mass

1 masses pl  the body of the community as contrasted with the elite <the masses demanded the elimination of tax breaks for the rich> Synonyms commoners, commons, crowd, herd, hoi polloi, millions, mob, multitude, people, plebeians, plebs, populace, public, rank and file Related Words cattle, proletariat, rabble, rabblement, ragtag and bobtail, riffraff, rout, scum, tag, rag, and bobtail (or tagrag and bobtail), trash, unwashed; bourgeoisie, middle class Near Antonyms gentility, gentlefolk (also gentlefolks), gentry, haute monde, nobility, patriciate, peerage, quality, royalty, society Antonyms A-list, aristocracy, best, choice, corps d'elite, cream, elect, elite, fat, flower, pick, pink, pride, upper crust

2 a considerable amount <I have a mass of work to do tonight> Synonyms abundance, barrel, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, lashings (also lashins) [chiefly British], loads, lot, mess, mountain, much, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack, passel, peck, pile, plateful, plenitude, plentitude, plenty, pot, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads, sheaf, shipload, sight, slew, spate, stack, store, ton, truckload, volume, wad, wealth, yardRelated Words epidemic, plague, rash; bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus; deluge, flood, overflow; army, bevy, cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mob, multitude, press, score, sea, swarm, throng; gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, thousands, trillion, zillionNear Antonyms atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit; smatter, smattering; dash, drop, morsel, shot; piece, portion, section; absence, dearth, famine, lack, paucity, poverty, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want; deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, meagerness, scantiness, scantness, skimpinessAntonyms ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste, touch, trace

3 a distinct and separate portion of matter <a mass of leaves in a corner of the yard> Synonyms bodyRelated Words aggregate, amount, bulk, quantity, quantum, volume; item, object, thing; material, stuff, substance; entirety, totality, whole

4 the main or greater part of something as distinguished from its subordinate parts <when taking pictures, focus your attention on the mass of the main subject> Synonyms brunt, bulk, chief, core, generality, heft [archaic], main, body, staple, weightRelated Words majority; aggregate, amount, entirety, quantum, sum, sum total, total, totality, whole; bottom, essence, essentiality, marrow, meat, nature, pith, quintessence, root, soul, stuff, substance; center, heart, hub, kernel, middle, nucleus, nut, seat; affair, argument, burden, crux, focus, gist, nub, pitch, point, purport; matter, motif, subject, text, theme, topicNear Antonyms accessory (also accessary), adjunct, appendage, extension, offshoot; component, constituent, element, ingredient; division, part, piece, section, segment; angle, aspect, facet, feature, quality, side

5 the largest part or quantity of something <believes that the great mass of voters are in the polical center and consider themselves neither conservative nor liberal> Synonyms bulk, generality, lion's share, majority, preponderanceRelated Words plurality; maximum, most; abundance, heap, loads, lot, much, oodles, plenty, profusion, reams, scads, wealthNear Antonyms couple, few, handful, smattering, sprinkling; least, minimumAntonyms minority

6 a great number of persons or creatures massed together <a huge mass of people had gathered in the park to protest the government's latest policy> Synonyms army, bike [chiefly Scottish], cram, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, crowd, mob, multitude, press, rout, scrum, swarm, throngRelated Words masses, millions, rabble, rabblement, riffraff; gaggle; heap, mountain, pile; jam, logjam