Everyman
Americannoun
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(italics) a 15th-century English morality play.
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(usually lowercase) an ordinary person; the typical or average person.
pronoun
noun
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a medieval English morality play in which the central figure represents mankind, whose earthly destiny is dramatized from the Christian viewpoint
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(often not capital) the ordinary person; common man
Etymology
Origin of Everyman
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The boss of cinema chain Everyman has stepped down less than three weeks after the company warned trading had been weaker than expected.
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025
After a loss, the grieving Everyman finds no option but to keep living—he is, as one character says, “just waiting to see what we’ve been left here for.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 26, 2025
That colors Ben as the quintessential 2025 American Everyman – he’s non-judgmental, not entirely immune to disinformation, but also questions behavior and developments that might have been plausible a decade ago.
From Salon • Jan. 21, 2025
In Tony Soprano, many people saw a modern Everyman.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2024
Downtrodden Americans gravitated strongly toward the Horatio Alger protagonist, the lowly bred Everyman who rises from anonymity and hopelessness.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
