Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The general public; the masses.
- noun A population.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The common people; the vulgar; the multitude, comprehending all persons not distinguished by rank, education, office, or profession.
- noun Synonyms Populace, Mob, Rabble, crowd, masses. Populace is nsed to represent the lower classes, the body of those without wealth, education, or recognized position; it is, however, much less opprobrious than mob or rabble. Mob is a very strong word for a tumultuous or even riotous assembly, moved to or toward lawlessness by discontent or some similar exciting cause. Rabble is a contemptuous word for the very lowest classes, considered as confused or without sufficient strength or unity of feeling to make them especially dangerous.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The common people; the vulgar; the multitude, -- comprehending all persons not distinguished by rank, office, education, or profession.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
common people of a nation. - noun The
inhabitants of a nation.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun people in general considered as a whole
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Generalization of a certain populace is an ignorant approach to protecting your idea of how to live.
ATVs in Wilderness Dave Hurteau 2008
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The worst illusion pundits foist on the populace is the idea that if we just elect the right guy (or gal) to be president, everything will be fine.
Tom Friedman, Naderite? Ezra Klein 2010
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Given that our last 4 quarters of growth are comparable to the best numbers in the Clinton presidency, the degree of economic pessimism in the populace is amazing.
The Productivity Story, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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On the other hand, the populace is atomized (deprived of meaningful ties to others); the only major non corporate-government institutions are the cooptable churches.
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On the other hand, the populace is atomized (deprived of meaningful ties to others); the only major non corporate-government institutions are the cooptable churches.
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I can't quite describe the level of annoyance that the bald business guru brings to a room of gentle drinkers, trying to enjoy themselves while the rest of the populace is at work, but a sudden wail from a man in the far corner, similar to that of a small dog yanked forcefully by the tail, alerts everyone that something is terribly wrong.
Archive 2004-10-01 2004
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Some of the populace is beyond a doubt idiotic, but the networks are BANKING that most of them are.
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Essentially, our populace is stupid, ill-informed, and intellectually lazy.
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The networks are the reason the populace is misinformed, and it is totally planned.
Natl. Poll: More favor than oppose Arizona immigration law 2010
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An uneducated populace is easy to frighten and manipulate, which is clearly the way some people want it.
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