horde

noun

ˈhȯrd 

1

a

: a political subdivision of central Asian nomads

b

: a people or tribe of nomadic life

2

: a large unorganized group of individuals : a teeming crowd or throng

hordes of peasants

Synonyms

• army
• bike [chiefly Scottish]
• cram
• crowd
• crush
• drove
• flock
• herd
• host
• legion
• mass
• mob
• multitude
• press
• rout
• scrum
• swarm
• throng

Choose the Right Synonym for horde

crowd, throng, horde, crush, mob mean an assembled multitude.

crowd implies a close gathering and pressing together.

a crowd gathered

throng and horde suggest movement and pushing.

a throng of reporters

a horde of shoppers

crush emphasizes the compactness of the group, the difficulty of individual movement, and the attendant discomfort.

a crush of fans

mob implies a disorderly crowd with the potential for violence.

an angry mob

Examples of horde in a Sentence

A horde of tourists entered the museum.

Hordes of reporters were shouting questions.

Recent Examples on the Web

Walmart must be feeling nostalgic for the days when zombie-apocalypse-level hordes would await the opening of the doors on Black Friday. —WIRED, 10 Nov. 2023

This should have guaranteed an ever-expanding universe of cinematic inventiveness—with the budgets (and the hordes of skilled associates listed in the end credits) to back it. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2023

Economies evolve, and the advent of the lightbulb has not left a lingering horde of unemployed candlemakers. —Will Daniel, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2023

But over the past two months, its problem has not been unsanctioned laptop users — it’s been hordes of influencers armed with tripods. —Curbed, 6 Oct. 2023

Yes, the fervent hordes clattering around TikTok and reality TV attest that many still prize celebrity, influence and their attendant financial promise. —Brenda Cronin, WSJ, 29 Oct. 2023

But the slasher franchises of the late 1970s and ’80s introduced a new standard, driving up the overall number of jump scares as killers like Freddy Kreuger and Michael Myers mowed their way through hordes of suburban teenagers. —Shelly Tan, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2023

One familiar face amongst the hordes of rowdy Swifties flocking to Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie this weekend was Swift’s ex and Valentine’s Day co-star Taylor Lautner. —Vulture, 14 Oct. 2023

Hundreds of guests attended his birthday fete at the Park Avenue Armory, a structure built in the late nineteenth century for a national guard regiment assigned to protect the mansions of upper Manhattan from the envious hordes it was feared might come marauding from tenements farther east. —Kim Phillips-Fein, The New York Review of Books, 28 Sep. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle French, German, & Polish; Middle French & German, from Polish horda, from Ukrainian dialect gorda, alteration of Ukrainian orda, from Old Russian, from Turkic orda, ordu khan's residence

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

horde

noun

ˈhō(ə)rd 

ˈhȯ(ə)rd

1

: a wandering people or tribe

2

: a great multitude : throng, swarm

hordes of tourists