crowd 1 of 2

1
as in throng
a great number of persons or creatures massed together a huge crowd of fans was on hand to greet the returning World Series champions

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
3

crowd

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to stuff
to fit (people or things) into a tight space crowded all the boats into the harbor before the storm struck

Synonyms & Similar Words

2
as in to flock
to move upon or fill (something) in great numbers cars crowded the roads over the long holiday weekend

Synonyms & Similar Words

3

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun crowd differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of crowd are crush, horde, mob, and throng. While all these words mean "an assembled multitude," crowd implies a close gathering and pressing together.

a crowd gathered

Where would crush be a reasonable alternative to crowd?

The words crush and crowd are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, crush emphasizes the compactness of the group, the difficulty of individual movement, and the attendant discomfort.

a crush of fans

When might mob be a better fit than crowd?

While in some cases nearly identical to crowd, mob implies a disorderly crowd with the potential for violence.

an angry mob

How do throng and horde relate to one another, in the sense of crowd?

Both throng and horde suggest movement and pushing.

a throng of reporters
a horde of shoppers

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of crowd
Noun
The in-house crowd was 21,819 to witness SDSU’s 34-0 win over the Golden Bears. Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Sep. 2025 A couple of good back slaps and thumps from the adoring crowd. Nick Miller, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
The space is increasingly crowded, with other startups such as TestFort, QASolve, Ranger, Quash, Zencoder, and a clutch of other new entrants competing for marketshare against traditional software testing services from the likes of IBM, Micro Focus (now part of Open Text), and Perforce Software. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2025 Witnesses said teens flooded the restaurant after football games, shooting fireworks and crowding the lobby. Robert Anglen, AZCentral.com, 24 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for crowd
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crowd
Noun
  • Fewer than three hours later, however, most of that throng trickled out of the stadium in disappointment after watching the Mustangs break a scoreless game at halftime en route to a 21-0 victory.
    Tris Wykes, Twin Cities, 27 Sep. 2025
  • The throngs of young women and the inclusiveness and positivity of it was just mind-blowing.
    Devon Ivie, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • With support from the ADG Community Journalism Project, LEARNS reporter Josh Snyder covers the impact of the law on the K-12 education system across the state, and its effect on teachers, students, parents and communities.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Open to the public, this year's home tour will highlight five new and remodeled homes in the Prospect and Louisville Metro communities.
    Lennie Omalza, Louisville Courier Journal, 2 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • In France, many of these free men of color witnessed the tumultuous storming of the Bastille prison in July 1789 and watched with hope as the revolutionary rhetoric of liberty, equality, and fraternity eventually led the French populace to overturn monarchical rule.
    Marlene L. Daut September 22, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2025
  • This willingness of the AI to heap praise and act as a sycophant has worrying consequences for the populace as a whole.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • This recipe has cabbage leaves stuffed with a delicious mixture of meat, pork, and rice.
    Emma Ashe, Southern Living, 1 Oct. 2025
  • The pasta is stuffed with a huitlacoche and parmesan paste in a dish that is meant to showcase the full lifecycle of corn.
    Sara Rosenthal, Denver Post, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Seeking to stop voters from flocking to Reform UK, Labour talked tough on immigration.
    Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025
  • This weekend’s Chiefs game — which ended in the Kansas City team defeating the Ravens 37-20 — marked the second match-up Swift has attended this season without being spotted by the usual horde of fans and cameras that used to flock to her on game days.
    Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 29 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Meatball huddled with his bent cops, to figure out how to shut Kearney up once and for all.
    Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Much of that time, the first responders huddled at either end of the hallway, many of them outside Marin-Franco’s classroom.
    Shimon Prokupecz, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • One day, tiny robot swarms, not bulky machines, may help in the future of disaster response, environmental monitoring, and medical procedures.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Large flocks of birds — or swarms of bats or insects — at the right altitude and speed reflect enough energy to appear on radar much like a storm.
    Brandi D. Addison, The Providence Journal, 29 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • On the software front, Amazon's baked in a bunch of AI features.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 1 Oct. 2025
  • The paper is a new way of combining a bunch of ideas that are already out there, but the method hasn’t yet been proven at scale.
    Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 1 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Crowd.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crowd. Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on crowd

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!