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

lay

18 4.9
Not a trained professional, used to mean ordinary people
  • adjective
  • /leɪ/
translation icon : 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.

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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
9.9

About people who are not religious leaders

is broader, applying to ordinary people and those outside professions

Antonyms

professional
401 3.7

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

Idioms

lay of the land
  • Informal
16 4.5

The current situation and main facts about a place or group

to lay down the law
  • Informal
12 5.5

Tell people firmly what they must do

to lay it on the line
  • Informal
3 7.8

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

to lay at the feet of
1 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 the blame at the feet of (someone)
1 6.9

To say someone caused a problem or is at fault

to lay one's head
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 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-by
  • UK
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 witness
  • Jargon
1 6.9

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

lay figure
  • Archaic
9.8

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

How Professional

expert
3 3.5
professional
401 3.7
trained
1.9
amateur
122 2.8
lay
18 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.