populace

noun

ˈpä-pyə-ləs How to pronounce populace (audio)
Definition of populacenext
as in people
the body of the community as contrasted with the elite high officials awkwardly mingling with the general populace

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of populace Russia is impossibly far from the victory Putin imagined in February 2022—controlling the country’s whole territory and populace. — Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 14 Sep. 2026 The vanishing New York chronicled in the blogs of the mid-aughts has mostly vanished, NYU has colonized large swaths of downtown, and a populace struggling to afford the crushing price of housing has arisen in its wake. — David Freedlander, Curbed, 11 Sep. 2026 But the impulse to monitor the nation’s populace and borders expanded exponentially. — David Friend, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026 But Onslaught doesn’t interrogate or even look at the military industrial complex with much interest beyond the notion that its fictional super soldiers were created to be unleashed upon civilian populaces. — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 4 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for populace
Recent Examples of Synonyms for populace
  1. people
  2. public
  3. crowd
  4. mob
  5. mass
Noun
  • Another 13 people were wounded on downtown Sacramento’s K Street and 10th Street, in what became the deadliest mass shooting in the city’s history.
    — Darrell Smith, Sacbee.com, 19 June 2026
  • Organizers say more than 125,000 people are expected throughout the event, bringing in millions of dollars for the local economy.
    — Ryan Hughes, CBS News, 19 June 2026
Definition of people
Noun
  • Human rights lawyer Rosy Auguste Ducena, who advocates for the rights of victims of violence, says the Haitian public is fed up with the slow pace of change.
    — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Caltrans said the deck replacement is necessary to preserve the structural integrity of the bridge and improve safety for maintenance workers, truck drivers and the traveling public.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of public
Noun
  • Carnegie Hall seats well over 3,000 people, but this intense, no-frills performance film gives life to the old saying about feeling alone in a crowd.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2026
  • That left a thinner-than-expected crowd, mostly made up of local executives, to hear the kingdom seek deeper international cooperation to secure energy supplies and trade routes.
    — Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of crowd
Noun
  • Organized crime helped build up Las Vegas, and a body stuffed in a barrel was known to signify a mob killing.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Homicide detectives took over the investigation and determined he had been murdered right around the time when mob organization was dying out in Sin City.
    — Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of mob
Noun
  • And with each new mass shooting, that divide may only deepen.
    — Jillian Turanovic, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Peterson used screen names of mass shooters, including the name of the gunman who killed students at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the man who killed movie-goers in Aurora, Colorado.
    — WCCO Staff, CBS News, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of mass

Browse Nearby Words

pops off
populace
populaces
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Populace.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/populace. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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