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.
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
Mike Judge and Greg Daniels built their two-dimensional Texas Everyman to ensure we could never quite be certain.
From Salon • Aug. 4, 2025
On Sunday at the Everyman theatre in nearby Cheltenham, she was in conversation with broadcaster Richard Bacon, who asked whether reports that she moved because of Donald Trump were correct.
From BBC • Jul. 20, 2025
It’s a gripping drama about a flawed Everyman tempted to ignore his conscience — and it also meant a chance to work with Eastwood.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 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.
