In this Letter we present the spectral and nonlinear optical properties of ZnO-Ag nanocomposites prepared by colloidal chemical synthesis. Obvious enhancement of ultraviolet (UV) emission of the samples is observed and the strongest UV emission is over three times than that of pure ZnO. These nanocomposites show self-defocusing nonlinearity and good nonlinear absorption behaviour which increases with increasing Ag volume fraction. The observed nonlinear absorption is explained through two photon absorption followed by free carrier absorption. ZnO-Ag is a potential nanocomposite material for the UV light emission and for the development of nonlinear optical devices with a relatively small limiting threshold. (c) 2008 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.