man on the Clapham omnibus

noun

Any hypothetical reasonable person used by the Courts in considering questions of reasonableness; an everyman.

“Near-synonyms: man on the Bondi tram, man on the Shau Kei Wan tram, reasonable person”

Similar
man on the Bondi tramman on the Shau Kei Wan tramreasonable personman on the street
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Meanings

nounman on the Clapham omnibus (plural (rare) men on the Clapham omnibus)

plural rare men on the Clapham omnibus

  1. UKlawAny hypothetical reasonable person used by the Courts in considering questions of reasonableness; an everyman.

    Near-synonyms: man on the Bondi tram, man on the Shau Kei Wan tram, reasonable person

    Synonyms: man on the Bondi tram, man on the Shau Kei Wan tram, reasonable person

  2. UKbroadlyAny ordinary person; everyman.

    Synonyms: man on the street

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAny hypothetical reasonable person used by the Courts in considering questions of reasonableness; an everyman.

Similar
man on the Bondi tramman on the Shau Kei Wan tramreasonable person

nounAny ordinary person; everyman.

Similar
man on the street
Also see
joe averageman on the streetreasonable person

Origin

First put to legal use in a reported judgement by Sir Richard Henn Collins MR in the English Court of Appeal libel case, McQuire v. Western Morning News (1903), who attributed it to Lord Bowen.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

man on the Clapham omnibus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/man%20on%20the%20Clapham%20omnibus

MLA

“man on the Clapham omnibus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/man%20on%20the%20Clapham%20omnibus. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “man on the Clapham omnibus,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/man%20on%20the%20Clapham%20omnibus.

Source: man on the Clapham omnibus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.