Everyone means all the people in a particular group or situation. When your teacher says everyone needs to turn in their homework, she means every single student in the class. When a sign says “Everyone welcome,” it means any person can come in.

The word refers to all people without exception in whatever context you're talking about. If everyone at your lunch table likes pizza, that means not a single person there dislikes it. If everyone in your family went to the beach, no one stayed home.

People sometimes use everyone loosely when they really mean “most people” or “many people.” Your friend might say “everyone has the new video game,” but probably not literally every person on Earth owns it. They mean it feels like a lot of people have it.

The word can create pressure when used carelessly. Saying “everyone thinks that” or “everyone's doing it” might not be true and can make people feel left out or strange for being different. When you hear everyone, it's worth asking yourself whether it really means all people or just feels that way. And when you use it yourself, consider whether you actually mean everyone or just many people.