PUBLIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does public mean? 

• PUBLIC (noun)
  The noun PUBLIC has 2 senses:

1. people in general considered as a whole

2. a body of people sharing some common interest

  Familiarity information: PUBLIC used as a noun is rare.

• PUBLIC (adjective)
  The adjective PUBLIC has 2 senses:

1. not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole

2. affecting the people or community as a whole

  Familiarity information: PUBLIC used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PUBLIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

People in general considered as a whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

populace; public; world

Context example:

he is a hero in the eyes of the public

Hypernyms ("public" is a kind of...):

people ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively)

Meronyms (members of "public"):

audience (the part of the general public interested in a source of information or entertainment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "public"):

admass (the segment of the public that is easily influenced by mass media (chiefly British))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A body of people sharing some common interest

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

the reading public

Hypernyms ("public" is a kind of...):

body (a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity)

• PUBLIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole

Context example:

performers and members of royal families are public figures

Similar:

in the public eye (of great interest to the public)

national (owned or maintained for the public by the national government)

open (open to or in view of all)

semipublic (having some of the features of public institution)

state-supported (supported and operated by the government of a state)

unexclusive; unrestricted (not restricted or exclusive)

Also:

exoteric (suitable for the general public)

open; overt (open and observable; not secret or hidden)

Antonym:

private (confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy)

Derivation:

publicity (the quality of being open to public view)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Affecting the people or community as a whole

Context example:

the public welfare

Similar:

common (belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public)

 Context examples 

After all his objections—objections so just and so public!

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

When are you to be married, and where, and who is to perform the ceremony, and what are you to wear, and is it to be a public or a private wedding?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It protects and advances the public health by ensuring that biological products are safe and effective and available to those who need them.

(Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, NCI Thesaurus)

A building for public worship or religious services.

(Church, NCI Thesaurus)

Afterwards there is a public scandal and it reflects upon me and all of us.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You are well aware, Dr. Huxtable, that his Grace is particularly anxious to avoid all public scandal.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“What sort of talk is this for a public inn?”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There are no further particulars, and the whole case is in your hands now—so far as it has been set forth in the public press.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Major depression represents one of the world's most serious public health problems.

(Forty-Four Genomic Variants Linked to Major Depression, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Very lucky—marrying as they did, upon an acquaintance formed only in a public place!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)