Meanings
plural reasonable persons · plural reasonable people
- lawA fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society and how he or she would behave or think, especially in determining negligence; sometimes formulated as "a person of ordinary prudence exercising due care in like circumstances."
Synonyms: man on the Bondi tram, man on the Clapham omnibus, man on the Shau Kei Wan tram
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see reasonable, person.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society and how he or she would behave or think, especially in determining negligence; sometimes formulated as "a person of ordinary prudence exercising due care in like circumstances."
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 理性自然人
- 理性自然人 (lǐxìng zìránrén)a fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society
Finnish järkevä henkilö
- järkevä henkilöa fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society
French personne raisonnable
- personne raisonnablea fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society
Japanese 通常人, 一般人
- 通常人 (tsūjōjin)a fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society
- 一般人 (ippanjin)a fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society
Polish osoba myśląca racjonalnie
- osoba myśląca racjonalniea fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society
Romanian persoană rezonabilă
- persoană rezonabilăa fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society
Spanish persona razonable
- persona razonablea fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society
Thai วิญญูชน
- วิญญูชน (win-yuu-chon)a fictional person used as a comparative legal standard to represent an average member of society
Cite this entry
reasonable person. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reasonable%20person
“reasonable person.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reasonable%20person. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reasonable person,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reasonable%20person.
Source: reasonable person on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.