populace

noun

pop·​u·​lace ˈpä-pyə-ləs 

1

: the common people : masses

2

: population

Did you know?

Populace is usually used to refer to all the people of a country. Thus, we're often told that an educated and informed populace is essential for a healthy American democracy. Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous radio "Fireside Chats" informed and reassured the American populace in the 1930s as we struggled through the Great Depression. We often hear about what "the general populace" is thinking or doing, but generalizing about something so huge can be tricky.

Synonyms

• commoners
• commons
• crowd
• herd
• hoi polloi
• mass
• millions
• mob
• multitude
• people
• plebeians
• plebs
• public
• rank and file

Examples of populace in a Sentence

The populace has suffered greatly.

high officials awkwardly mingling with the general populace

Recent Examples on the Web

No good campaign manager is going to let their candidate bore the populace with a comprehensive vision of what needs to be done to build more school classrooms and fill them with more and better-paid teachers. —Dean Minnich, Baltimore Sun, 20 July 2024

My second takeaway is that bread and circuses — the Roman phrase for distracting the populace with spectacle — was in full force. —Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2024

The infinite diversity of backgrounds and ideologies which create the ecosystem of the United States voting populace is in turn creating extreme deviations between voter bases. —Caleb Stimmell, Orlando Sentinel, 8 July 2024

What about superhero movies, which depict a hierarchical world in which coteries of natural aristocrats battle to save the lowly populace? —Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 3 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle French, from Italian popolaccio rabble, augmentative of popolo the people, from Latin populus

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

populace

noun

pop·​u·​lace ˈpäp-yə-ləs 

1

: the common people : masses

2

: population sense 1