public opinion

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noun

the collective opinion of many people on some issue, problem, etc., especially as a guide to action, decision, or the like.

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Origin of public opinion

First recorded in 1560–70

Words nearby public opinion

publicness, public nuisance, público, public offering, public officer, public opinion, public-opinion poll, public ownership, public policy, public prosecutor, Public Record Office

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use public opinion in a sentence

Clearly, public opinion about congressional Republicans is all over the map.
What Do Americans Think Of Marjorie Taylor Greene? Liz Cheney? Josh Hawley?|Nathaniel Rakich (nathaniel.rakich@fivethirtyeight.com)|February 5, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
A recent public opinion survey of 28 countries found that nine in ten people want the post-pandemic world to be more “sustainable and equitable.”
Melinda Gates: Why Women's Voices Must Be at the Center of Rebuilding After COVID-19|Melinda Gates|January 15, 2021|Time
According to a December poll by Kantar, a global public opinion firm, published in Bild, Spahn had surpassed Merkel as the country’s most popular politician.
Angela Merkel's CDU Party Is Choosing a New Leader. Whoever Wins Might Become Germany's Next Chancellor|Madeline Roache|January 14, 2021|Time
Otherwise, falsehood would poison public opinion and people’s trust in their elected officials would be unduly eroded.
What the 1798 Sedition Act got right — and what it means today|Kaitlyn Carter|January 14, 2021|Washington Post

Political scientist Lily Mason’s work on public opinion shows that those alignments supercharge partisan animosities.
Are we entering a new era of political violence?|Sean Illing|January 7, 2021|Vox
When cities started adding chlorine to their water supplies, in the early 1900s, it set off public outcry.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Not to be left behind, progressives in neighboring Wisconsin clamored to join the cutting edge of public health.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Just the hard-on before you shoot unarmed members of the public.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops|Melissa Leon|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In a bit of foreshadowing, he repeated that opinion in November.
Jeb Bush’s Unseen Anti-Gay Marriage Emails|Jackie Kucinich|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Great American leaders have long contributed profound thoughts of tremendous consequence to the public discourse.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We resolved to do our best to merit the good opinion which we thus supposed them to entertain of us.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
As such it is now presented to the public for whatever meed of praise or censure it is found to deserve.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Five of the number had studied with Liszt before, and the young men are artists already before the public.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
Many of these have been seen in the Corcoran Art Gallery and in other public exhibitions.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
It was close upon twelve o'clock, and the "Rooms" had been open to the public for two hours.
Rosemary in Search of a Father|C. N. Williamson

British Dictionary definitions for public opinion

public opinion

noun

the attitude of the public, esp as a factor in determining the actions of government

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

public opinion

Origin of public opinion

Words nearby public opinion

Words related to public opinion

How to use public opinion in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for public opinion