lay person
Britishnoun
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a person who is not a member of the clergy
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a person who does not have specialized or professional knowledge of a subject
a lay person's guide to conveyancing
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.
"They send such a bewildering amount of information through that a lay person couldn't understand it," he said.
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026
“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
Likewise, it's obviously impossible for a lay person to know visually whether their local roach population is glucose-averse or not.
From Salon • Jul. 3, 2022
"I also express my pain and shock over the killing in Mexico the day before yesterday of two religious brothers of mine, Jesuits, and one lay person," Francis said.
From Reuters • Jun. 22, 2022
A. By a "lay person" I mean here any one who is not a priest.
From Baltimore Catechism, No. 3 by Anonymous
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.