plural people
1
plural
: human beings making up a group or assembly or linked by a common interest
2
plural
: human beings, persons
—often used in compounds instead of persons
salespeople
—often used attributivelypeople skills
3
plural
: the members of a family or kinship
4
plural
: the mass of a community as distinguished from a special class
disputes between the people and the nobles
—often used by Communists to distinguish Communists from other people
5
plural peoples
: a body of persons that are united by a common culture, tradition, or sense of kinship, that typically have common language, institutions, and beliefs, and that often constitute a politically organized group
6
: lower animals usually of a specified kind or situation
7
: the body of enfranchised citizens of a state
peopled; peopling
ˈpē-p(ə-)liŋ 
Synonyms
Examples of people in a Sentence
Noun
People can be really cruel sometimes.
People think the coach should be fired.
She tends to annoy people.
People say it's impossible, but I'm still going to try.
a book for young people
a people who migrated across the Bering Strait
the native peoples of Mexico
Verb
a science-fiction novel about a mission to people Mars
Recent Examples on the Web
TIME, 30 Apr. 2024
Still, there’s a cluster of people inside: his driver and trainer in the front seat, his publicist and security in the back, and Towers and myself in the middle.
—Leila Cobo, Billboard, 30 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for people 
Noun
The Israeli prime minister’s support inside Israel has sagged in recent months, as Israeli voters demand answers for how Israeli intelligence and military forces missed Hamas’ preparations for a brazen attack that killed nearly 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages back into Gaza.
—TIME, 30 Apr. 2024
Still, there’s a cluster of people inside: his driver and trainer in the front seat, his publicist and security in the back, and Towers and myself in the middle.
—Leila Cobo, Billboard, 30 Apr. 2024
See all Example Sentences for people
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'people.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“People.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/people. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
people
1 of 2 noun
peo·ple
ˈpē-pəl
plural people
1
plural
: human beings, persons
—often used in compounds instead of persons
salespeople
2
plural
: the members of a family : kindred
3
plural
: the mass of a community as distinguished from a special class
4
plural peoples
: a body of persons united by a common culture, tradition, or sense of kinship, and usually language
5
: the body of voters of a state
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