member of the public

English

Noun

member of the public (plural members of the public)

  1. A regular or normal citizen, as opposed to an official or agent acting in an official capacity.
    • 1963 February, “Nobody runs this railway, mate”, in Modern Railways, page 73:
      The average member of the public has only a vague idea of the wide-ranging integration of effort needed to put on an intensive train service like the Southern's and run it with so high a degree of safety and reliability.
    • 2021 September 15, Laura Martin, “How talent shows became TV's most bizarre programmes”, in BBC‎:
      There was an easy charm to Stars in Their Eyes – inspired by the Dutch series Soundmixshow – in that a member of the public was lifted from their day job, given a makeover to sing their song on stage to a huge television audience, and then... normal life resumed.

See also
  • public member
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