vox populi
noun
-pyə-(ˌ)lē
Kate AllenWalter Goodman
Did you know?
In a letter to his wife in June of 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, General William Tecumseh Sherman wrote about General Ulysses S. Grant’s ongoing but successful siege at Vicksburg: “Grant is now deservedly the hero. … He is now belabored with praise by those who a month ago accused him of all the sins in the calendar, and who next week will turn against him if so blows the popular breeze. Vox populi, vox humbug.” Sherman was tweaking the maxim vox populi, vox Dei, a Latin phrase that translates as “The voice of the people [is] the voice of God” and that is used by many people (excepting Sherman, clearly) to mean “the people are always right.” This phrase is often shortened to vox populi when a writer or speaker wishes to invoke what they believe to be the popular opinion of the day, whether real or perceived, rock solid or blowing on the breeze.
Examples of vox populi in a Sentence
Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 5 Apr. 2025
The question that looms large is whether the vox populi will remain silent in the face of this stark transparency, or whether they will be kept silent by the very tech giants who control the digital platforms where public discourse takes place.
—Alexandra Andhov, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2025
Whether this is a reference to the bygone international newspaper or merely a wink to the vox populi is not clear.
—Jacob Gallagher, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2025
In the end, Rhaenyra even proves willing to undercut the source of the Targaryens’s divine right of kings—their communion with dragons—by calling for riders from outside the legitimate royal lineage, recruiting bastards who come to embody the vox populi.
—Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2024
Unelected constitutional courts acted as an elitist brake on the majoritarian vox populi, protecting human rights from unbridled populism.
—Shlomo Avineri, Foreign Affairs, 1 Jan. 2012
Remember, recent outrage among vox populi over a trans woman having the nerve to pitch Bud Light proved to be a brand killer.
—Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 9 June 2023
So much for vox populi, vox dei.
—WIRED, 19 Jan. 2023
Bands that have overstayed their welcome should agree to accept the results of a Twitter poll and head for the exits if the vox populi turns against them.
—Joe Queenan, WSJ, 22 Dec. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Vox populi.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vox%20populi. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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