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Synonyms

lay person

British  

noun

  1. a person who is not a member of the clergy

  2. a person who does not have specialized or professional knowledge of a subject

    a lay person's guide to conveyancing

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

See Examples For:

"They send such a bewildering amount of information through that a lay person couldn't understand it," he said.

From BBC Jan. 26, 2026

The meaning is not something that a lay person can necessarily intuit.

From Salon Sep. 8, 2025

“Even a lay person has the common sense to see exigent circumstances exist to enter these homes,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times May 2, 2025

These publications are written so a lay person can understand them with ease.

From Seattle Times Jan. 16, 2023

It declared that no emperor, king, duke, marquis, count, or any other lay person should presume to grant investiture, under pain of excommunication.

From Early European History by Webster, Hutton

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