素人

amateur; layman; ordinary person; novice

Meaning

  1. n
    amateur; layman; ordinary person; novice
  2. n
    respectable woman (i.e. not a prostitute, hostess, geisha)
  3. n archaic
    unlicensed prostitute

Example sentences

  • It can hardly be called research... just an amateur's hobby, I'm ashamed to say.

  • Much legal language is obscure to a layman.

  • The association has excluded amateurs ever since its foundation.