📚 To put down 🥚 To produce eggs 💰 To impose 🧑 Not professional 🎶 A poem or song

lay

38 4.9

Not a trained professional, used to mean ordinary people

adjective
/leɪ/

: laico

My father was a lay preacher.
lay people
a lay person
a lay audience

OK, now people in the lay world talk about talk and die.

Autoplay Next

Examples

And it's gone on to also meet, you know, lay audiences.
Well, sometimes, Ellen, it's difficult for a lay person to understand...

House Calls (1978)
OK, now people in the lay world talk about talk and die.

Dr. Phil
There is less lay or secular learning than there was.
Catholic Community Services is run by lay people and is doing a bang-up job.

Blog text (7)
Clergy and lay leaders engage in a frantic search for solutions.

Academic text (2015)
Patients and the lay public are almost helpless in determining whether a doctor is competent.

Academic text (1994)
CHICAGO -- DePaul University has named its first lay president in the Chicago school's 119-year history.

Academic text (2017)
Buddhist monks, nuns, and lay people stood up and protested.

Academic text (1999)
Most lay people find technical jargon confusing and prefer simpler explanations.

Synonyms

laic

vslay

Formal

1 9.9

About people who are not religious leaders

is broader, applying to ordinary people and those outside professions

Antonyms

professional

435 3.7

A person who has special training and works in a skilled job

Idioms

lay of the land

Informal

17 4.5

The current situation and main facts about a place or group

to lay down the law

Informal

13 5.5

Tell people firmly what they must do

to lay it on the line

Informal

8 7.8

To speak honestly and directly, even if it may cause trouble

to lay at the feet of

5 8.1

To say someone caused or deserves credit for something

to lay on the charm

Informal

1 5.8

Act very friendly and say nice things to get what you want

to lay one's head

1 4.2

To find a place to sleep or rest

to lay one's tongue to

Archaic

9.8

To say a word correctly, often with difficulty

to lay on the sauce

Informal

8.4

To put a lot of sauce on food or to use too much of something

to lay the blame at the feet of (someone)

6.9

To say someone caused a problem or is at fault

to lay the dust of controversy

Archaic

8.3

End arguments about a decision by giving a clear answer

Compounds

lay-up

Jargon

5 3.4

A close shot near the basket in basketball made with one hand, often off the backboard

lay witness

Jargon

1 6.9

A person who gives evidence in court about what they personally saw or experienced

lay-by

1 5.9

A paved area beside a main road where vehicles stop briefly to rest or in an emergency

lay reader

Jargon

1 8.6

A person chosen by a church leader to lead readings, prayers, and short talks

lay figure

Archaic

1 9.8

A model of the human body with movable joints that artists use to set and study poses

How Professional

expert

165 3.5

professional

435 3.7

trained

386 1.9

amateur

132 2.8

lay

38 4.9

Surface Forms

lay positive

Etymology

Lay (adjective) comes from a word meaning 'the people' and is the same idea you see in layman or layperson, so lay describes someone who is not part of the clergy or a special profession.