How to use layman in a sentence

20 example sentences · noun

Layman means layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy. Example: “Carmen is not a professional anthropologist, but strictly a layman.”

Examples of layman by meaning

nounSomeone who is not a professional in a given field.

Carmen is not a professional anthropologist, but strictly a layman.

nounA person who is untrained or lacks knowledge of a subject.

should he be held to be just a layman, or does he have some art?2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 221d

More sentences with layman

I would rather hire a talented layman than a university graduate with borderline qualifications.From the entry borderline
The tone of the paper strikes a happy medium between layman approachability and technical accuracy.From the entry happy medium
The phrasing of the new law is not overclear to a layman.From the entry overclear
What is a mere layman doing amongst people talking about such a specialised subject.2020, Bojosi Otlhogile, “‘A Name Tells a Story’: Botswana’s Place, Street and Landmark Names – A Layman’s Perspective”, in Botswana Notes…. From the entry onomastician
Under such a political order, the dictatorless republican government ruled by laymen was very stable.2017, Katsumi Fukasawa, Religious Interactions in Europe and the Mediterranean World: Coexistence and Dialogue from the 12th to the 20th…. From the entry dictatorless
The Pharisees were mostly laymen; to some extent they were antipriestly.1984, Hugo Echegaray, The Practice of Jesus, page 51. From the entry nonpriestly
And to an underread layman, it MIGHT work.2001 February 8, Iceberg, “The Christ of History and the Christ of Experience”, in alt.religion.christian (Usenet), archived from the…. From the entry underread
Science-as-religion is held by some half-assedly-educated laymen, of which you do not see many here (your opinion of somne alt.atheists notwithstanding).1997 October 14, MindFlayer, “Atheists and Aliens”, in alt.paranormal (Usenet), retrieved 07 May 2022. From the entry alt.atheist
One layman in Buddha's time decided to embrace celibacy and relinquished his marriage vows to his four wives.1990, John Stevens, Lust for enlightenment: Buddhism and sex. From the entry marriage
Although this kind of "taraxacology" seems to be a secret science for the layman, there are arguments that justify the recognition and naming of agamospecies.2001, Christa Kletter, Tibetan Medicinal Plants, page 129. From the entry taraxacology
His palms were anointed with chrism and the oil of catechumens; he alone among laymen could now handle the chalice and drink of the Precious Blood at Mass.2010, Elena Maria Vidal, Madame Royale: A Novel, →ISBN, page 253. From the entry Precious Blood
It describes the Agapetae as virgins who consecrated themselves to God with a vow of chastity and associated with laymen who like themselves had taken a vow of chastity.2007, Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Who Is This King of Glory?:, →ISBN, page 175. From the entry agapetae
That makes it all the more important for the layman to distinguish the various gradations between evolutionists, serious scientists who are interested in ID, "neo-Creos," and Biblical literalists.2005 August 28, Sally Jenkins, “Just Check the ID”, in Washington Post, →ISSN. From the entry neo-creo
While not acceptable to all Unitarians, the philosophical determinism known as Necessarianism, identified with Hartley and Priestley, also proved persuasive to many, both ministers and laymen.2000, R. K. Webb, “6: Miracles in English Unitarian Thought”, in Mark S. Micale, Robert L. Dietle, editors, Enlightenment, Passion…. From the entry necessarianism
The layman could have been forgiven for wondering if it was not just a faddish change from old-fashioned steam to cleaner, vaguely faster and more fashionable electric traction.1962 August, “Let's have plain speaking”, in Modern Railways, page 74. From the entry faddish
The layman does not realise the dreadful nightmare of running in fog, especially at night, when the safety of everyone depends on the driver hearing the fog signal detonate.1943 November and December, T. Lovatt Williams, “Some Reminiscences of the Footplate—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 344. From the entry fog signal
On registration, the user is prompted to complete a 'fetish list', most of which the average layman would need a BDSM dictionary for: acts such as Dacryphilia, Cupping or Klismaphilia.2008, The Library Association of Australia, Archives and Manuscripts: The Journal of the Archives Section - Volume 36, Issues 1-2. From the entry dacryphilia
Few laymen realize the enormous amount of work which is necessary to convert a newly commissioned ship manned with raw recruits into a wellfound ship manned with a trained crew.1914, Personnel of the Navy and Marine Corps, page 304. From the entry wellfound

Meaning of layman

noun Layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.
noun Someone who is not a professional in a given field.
noun A common person.

Full definition of layman

Questions about layman in a sentence

How do you use layman in a sentence?: Layman is used as a noun. For example: “Carmen is not a professional anthropologist, but strictly a layman.”
What is a short sentence with layman?: “And to an underread layman, it MIGHT work.”
What does layman mean?: Layman means layperson, someone who is not an ordained cleric or member of the clergy.

Adapted from Wiktionary: layman (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use layman in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/layman. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.