Public

/ˈpʌblɪk/ · adjective

Meaning

Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view..

Definitions by Sense

1. Able to be known or seen by everyone; happening without concealment; open to general view.
2. Open to all members of a community, as opposed to only a segment of it; especially, provided by national or local authorities and supported by money from taxes.
3. Pertaining to the people as a whole, as opposed to a group of people; concerning the whole community or country.
4. Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the government or state on behalf of the community, rather than by a private organization.
5. Pertaining to a person in the capacity in which they deal with other people on a formal or official basis, as opposed to a personal or private capacity; official, professional.
6. (not comparable, by extension, object-oriented programming) Of an object: accessible to the program in general, not only to a class or subclass.
7. Pertaining to nations collectively, or to nations regarded as civilized; international, supernational.
8. Now chiefly in public spirit and public-spirited: seeking to further the best interests or well-being of the community or nation.

Example Sentences

VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.

[T]he Apoſtles preached as vvell vvhen they vvrote as vvhen they ſpake the Goſpell of Chriſt, and our vſuall publique reading of the vvord of God for the peoples inſtruction is preaching.

Thy [Jesus's] firſt publique miracle graceth a marriage; It is an ancient and laudable inſtitution, that the rites of matrimony ſhould not vvant a ſolemne celebration; VVhen are feaſts in ſeaſon, if not at the recouery of our loſt ribbe?

The Parliament alſo permitted General [George] Monck to ſend Mʳ [Thomas] Clarges his brother-in-law, accompanied vvith ſome Officers of the Army, to aſſure his Majeſty [Charles II of England] of the fidelity and obedience of the Army; vvhich had made publick and ſolemn proteſtations thereof, after the Letter and Declaration vvas communicated unto them by the General.

[O]ur last advices from Spain inform us, that the prince of Asturias had made his public entry into Madrid in great splendour.

Clear away! There was nothing they wouldn't have cleared away, or couldn't have cleared away, with old Fezziwig looking on. It was done in a minute. Every movable was packed off, as if it were dismissed from public life for evermore; the floor was swept and watered, the lamps were trimmed, fuel was heaped upon the fire; and the warehouse was as snug, and warm, and dry, and bright a ball-room, as you would desire to see upon a winter's night.

Earlier this month [Tim] Godwin had to make a public apology to the family of Daniel Morgan after the collapse of a £30m inquiry into his murder in 1987.

Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.

Synonyms for public

Antonyms for public

Related Words

Word Forms

• more public
• most public
• publick
• publicke
• publike
• publique
• publics
• publicking
• publicked

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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