Phrase guide

John Q. Public

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: everyman; Tom, Dick or Harry; Joe Sixpack
  • Even careful safety precautions in the factory do not make it a good place for John Q. Public to wander unattended.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Joe Average, Joe Bloggs, Joe Blow, Joe Doakes, Joe Public, Joe Q. Public, Joe Schmoe, J. Random User, man on the street, everyman, Tom, Dick or Harry, Joe Sixpack

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

First use appears c. 1938. John Q. Public was the name of a character created by Vaughn Shoemaker, an editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Daily News from 1922 to 1952; Shoemaker introduced this character in 1922 but is believed to have added the "Q." sometime in the early 1930s.https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/22/obituaries/vaughn-shoemaker-created-john-q-public.html Compare also John Doe.

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: Jan Novák — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Dutch: Jan Janssen — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Finnish: Matti Meikäläinen — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • French: Jean Dupont — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • German: Hans Meier — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • German: Max Mustermann — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • German: Otto Normalverbraucher — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Italian: Mario Rossi — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Polish: Jan Kowalski — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Portuguese: Manuel Dos Santos — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Portuguese: João da Silva — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Portuguese: José da Silva — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Portuguese: Zé da Silva — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Russian: Ива́н Ива́нович (Iván Ivánovič) — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen
  • Serbo-Croatian: Marko Marković — a generic individual; some hypothetical average or ordinary citizen