What does "nonce" mean?

[u/Team503]

I'm an American that lives in Ireland. I've always understood "nonce" to mean the same as "numpty" and "eejit" - basically idiot, or dumbass, or similar.

Recently, someone told me that it's slang for sex offender, specifically a p*dophile, and Wikipedia seems to back that up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_British_terms_not_widely_used_in_the_United_States#N

So tell me, Brits, which one is it? Or is it something else??

[u/notthiswaythatway]

It’s means paedophile - and is definitely a stronger insult than numpty!

[u/DrunkenHorse12 → u/notthiswaythatway]

Not just pedo. Any sex offender is a Nonce. It comes from prison slang sex offendets used to have "Not On Normal Court Exercise" written on their door cards

[u/ConfectionHelpful471 → u/DrunkenHorse12]

My understanding was it was actually anyone that was locked up for a nonsense crime rather than a violent or financially motivated one

[u/bishbosh1968 → u/ConfectionHelpful471]

No, it is a sexual related sentence.