Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun public

2 senses of public

Sense 1
populace, public, world -- (people in general considered as a whole; "he is a hero in the eyes of the public")
       => people -- ((plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively; "old people"; "there were at least 200 people in the audience")

Sense 2
public -- (a body of people sharing some common interest; "the reading public")
       => body -- (a group of persons associated by some common tie or occupation and regarded as an entity; "the whole body filed out of the auditorium"; "the student body"; "administrative body")

Antonyms of adj public

2 senses of public

Sense 1
public (vs. private) -- (not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole; "the public good"; "public libraries"; "public funds"; "public parks"; "a public scandal"; "public gardens"; "performers and members of royal families are public figures")

private (vs. public) -- (confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy; "a private place"; "private discussions"; "private lessons"; "a private club"; "a private secretary"; "private property"; "the former President is now a private citizen"; "public figures struggle to maintain a private life")
        => clannish, cliquish, clubby, snobbish, snobby -- (befitting or characteristic of those who incline to social exclusiveness and who rebuff the advances of people considered inferior)
        => cloistered, reclusive, secluded, sequestered -- (providing privacy or seclusion; "the cloistered academic world of books"; "sat close together in the sequestered pergola"; "sitting under the reclusive calm of a shade tree"; "a secluded romantic spot")
        => close -- (confined to specific persons; "a close secret")
        => closed-door -- (not open to the public; "a closed-door meeting")
        => confidential, secret -- ((of information) given in confidence or in secret; "this arrangement must be kept confidential"; "their secret communications")
        => confidential -- (entrusted with private information and the confidence of another; "a confidential secretary")
        => insular -- (suggestive of the isolated life of an island; "an exceedingly insular man; so deeply private as to seem inaccessible to the scrutiny of a novelist"- Leonard Michaels)
        => nonpublic -- (not invested with or related to prominent position or status etc.)
        => offstage, backstage -- (concealed from public view or attention; "offstage political meetings")
        => one-on-one -- (directly between two individuals; "one-on-one instruction")
        => privy, secluded, secret -- (hidden from general view or use; "a privy place to rest and think"; "a secluded romantic spot"; "a secret garden")
        => semiprivate -- (confined to a small number of hospital patients; "semiprivate room")
        => tete-a-tete, head-to-head -- (involving two persons; intimately private; "a tete-a-tete supper"; "a head-to-head conversation")
        => toffee-nosed -- (snobbish; pretentiously superior)

Sense 2
public -- (affecting the people or community as a whole; "community leaders"; "community interests"; "the public welfare")

INDIRECT (VIA common) -> individual, single -- (being or characteristic of a single thing or person; "individual drops of rain"; "please mark the individual pages"; "they went their individual ways")

Similarity of adj public

2 senses of public

Sense 1
public (vs. private) -- (not private; open to or concerning the people as a whole; "the public good"; "public libraries"; "public funds"; "public parks"; "a public scandal"; "public gardens"; "performers and members of royal families are public figures")
       => in the public eye (predicate) -- (of great interest to the public; "a person in the public eye")
       => national -- (owned or maintained for the public by the national government; "national parks")
       => open -- (open to or in view of all; "an open protest"; "an open letter to the editor")
       => semipublic -- (having some of the features of public institution)
       => state-supported -- (supported and operated by the government of a state; "a state university")
       => unexclusive, unrestricted -- (accessible to all)
          Also See-> exoteric#1; overt#1, open#16

Sense 2
public -- (affecting the people or community as a whole; "community leaders"; "community interests"; "the public welfare")
       => common (vs. individual) -- (belonging to or participated in by a community as a whole; public; "for the common good"; "common lands are set aside for use by all members of a community")