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^[1]:

     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