populace

noun

pop·​u·​lace ˈpä-pyə-ləs How to pronounce populace (audio)
1
: the common people : masses
2

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.

Examples of populace in a Sentence

The populace has suffered greatly. high officials awkwardly mingling with the general populace
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Today, the best fashion schools have made sustainability a core principle, and the designers graduating from the world’s best design programs, like Nale, are looking at their future careers through a different lens than what the general populace is used to expecting from Fashion. Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025 Rather than unifying and pacifying a populace, this kind of media encouraged idiosyncratic, extreme views. Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 8 Sep. 2025 If Democratic messaging caters to the populace more concerned with the first objective than the latter, Hernaiz suspects their appeal will continue to wane. Alex J. Rouhandeh, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025 Not until the populace can return in peace to visit them will the task be complete. Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for populace

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of populace was in 1572

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Cite this Entry

“Populace.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/populace. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

populace

noun
pop·​u·​lace ˈpäp-yə-ləs How to pronounce populace (audio)
1
: the common people : masses
2

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