populace
Americannoun
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the common people of a community, nation, etc., as distinguished from the higher classes.
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all the inhabitants of a place; population.
noun
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the inhabitants of an area
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the common people; masses
Etymology
Origin of populace
1565–75; < French < Italian popolaccio, equivalent to popol ( o ) people + -accio pejorative suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The populace reacted so strongly to those images.
From Slate • Feb. 2, 2026
Plato saw it as an inevitable consequence of democracy, when a quest for freedom leads to excess and the populace demands a strongman.
From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026
Faber is positive about one thing: the ability of capitalism to lift the world’s populace out of poverty.
From MarketWatch • Jan. 9, 2026
Aubrecht watches from afar as Yscalin falls to Fýredel, its ruler and populace subjugating themselves to the cruel dragons, desperate to avoid their wrath.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
Although Hopewell villages were as small as those of their more egalitarian neighbors, they were stratified, with priesdy rulers controlling the rest of the populace.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
