laypeople
Americanplural noun
Usage
What does laypeople mean? Laypeople is used in a religious context to refer to people who are regular members of a religious congregation and not members of the clergy—that is, laypeople are people who are not religious officials like priests.The term clergy collectively refers to people who have been ordained or otherwise serve as religious leaders or officials, such as priests, rabbis, and nuns. The singular form of laypeople is layperson. In a religious context, laypeople can be collectively referred to as the laity.The word layman specifically refers to a man, but it is often used regardless of gender. However, layperson is truly gender-neutral.Laypeople is perhaps even more commonly used outside of a religious context to refer to people who are not members of a particular profession or who are not experts in or knowledgeable about a particular field. The related phrases layman’s terms and layperson’s terms refer to plain language that the average person can understand, as opposed to technical jargon that can only be understood by experts in the topic or those who are already familiar with it.When someone asks for an explanation in layperson’s terms, they want it to be as simple and straightforward as possible, so that it can be understood by laypeople—nonexperts.Example: She has built a career as a science writer by explaining complex topics in a way that is accessible to laypeople.
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 people this term doesn’t include are those—often self-diagnosed laypeople or the patients of anti-scientific practitioners—who believe that they have insidious Lyme infections missed by blood tests and persistent beyond any normal antibiotic treatment.
From Slate
Like most laypeople, you’re not in an authoritative position to judge the accuracy and thoroughness of your estate-planning documents.
From MarketWatch
Negative public perceptions about AI could put tech companies at a disadvantage when such cases go before juries of laypeople.
From Los Angeles Times
Today, some laypeople may still gather to watch a gaggle of newly-launched Starlink satellites, each designed for a lifetime of about 5 years, as they move through the sky like a string of pearls, or a long ellipse of unblinking stars.
From Salon
But satellites also shine in two other ways, which laypeople won't notice.
From Salon
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.
