A person who is not a member of the police or military is called a civilian.

Quick Scoop

  • A civilian is anyone who is not part of the armed forces.
  • Many dictionaries define a civilian as “a person who is not a member of the military or of a police or firefighting force.”
  • In everyday use, “civilian” often just means an ordinary member of the public, as opposed to professionals like soldiers, police officers, or firefighters.

Use it in a sentence

  • “As a civilian , she was not allowed into the restricted military zone.”
  • “The new policy is meant to protect civilians during times of conflict.”

Extra nuance

In international law, civilians are specifically protected in armed conflicts and are defined as people who are not members of the armed forces or directly taking part in hostilities. In casual speech, however, people sometimes contrast “civilians” with police or emergency services, even though those professionals are technically civilians too (they’re not military).

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.