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 of populace

• people
• public
• crowd
• mob
• commoners
• mass
• millions

Examples of populace in a Sentence

The populace has suffered greatly.

high officials awkwardly mingling with the general populace

Recent Examples on the Web

That combination makes for a happy society and ensures a populace that drives a productive economy for years to come. —Alexis Akwagyiram, semafor.com, 20 Feb. 2026

The announcers need to study intensely, learning details not only about an athlete, but what a particular sport means to the populace of a country halfway around the world. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 19 Feb. 2026

If public parking cannot actually be free, our primary choices come down to a general fee (taxes) on the entire city populace, or a user fee (paid parking lots and meters) by those who directly benefit from having a place to park. —Harvey Levine, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Feb. 2026

Yet, like Bessette’s relationship with the Kennedy family scion, her eternity band is shrouded in mystery—imperfectly recorded through rumors, second-hand accounts, and myths invented by the press and populace. —Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 17 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French, "mob, rabble," borrowed from Italian popolazzo, popolaccio "the common people, the masses, rabble, mob," from popolo people entry 1 + -azzo, -accio, augmentative and pejorative suffix, going back to Latin -āceus -aceous

Note: The extension of -āceus to nouns, through deletion of the modified head noun, takes place already in Latin (see note at -aceous), and continued into Italian—compare focaccia "flatbread," already attested in Late Latin, from Latin focus "hearth." At some point the notion of appurtenance or similarity appears to have led to that of devaluation, whence the application of the Italian suffix to things of inappropriately large size or inferior quality. The derivatives popolazzo and popolaccio show both the Tuscan outcome -accio and a variant -azzo that represents the outcome of -āceus in Upper Italian or southern Italian dialects.

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for populace

• populous
• populus

Kids Definition

populace

noun

pop·​u·​lace ˈpäp-yə-ləs 

1

: the common people : masses

2

: population sense 1