as in low
belonging to the class of people of low social or economic rank
a TV producer who knew what the unwashed masses wanted—and unhesitatingly gave it to them
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in masses
people looked down upon as ignorant and of the lowest class
Aunt Edna was fond of snootily reminding us that we need not take our manners from the great unwashed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unwashed
Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 28 Apr. 2026
The red contrasted with the dark color of unwashed denim and the tab became an instantly recognizable trademark of Levi’s jeans.
—Jack Armstrong, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
What thrilled Peter about the piers was the feeling of someone’s eyes on the back of the head, that unwashed smell.
—Andrew Durbin, Vulture, 13 Apr. 2026
Here’s how to limit your exposure Blueberries are nutritious and delicious and—if unwashed—likely coated in a film of pesticide residue.
—Emma Gometz, Scientific American, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unwashed
Adjective
In-stock items must be returned unused and unwashed.
—Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 28 Apr. 2026
The red contrasted with the dark color of unwashed denim and the tab became an instantly recognizable trademark of Levi’s jeans.
—Jack Armstrong, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
What thrilled Peter about the piers was the feeling of someone’s eyes on the back of the head, that unwashed smell.
—Andrew Durbin, Vulture, 13 Apr. 2026
Here’s how to limit your exposure Blueberries are nutritious and delicious and—if unwashed—likely coated in a film of pesticide residue.
—Emma Gometz, Scientific American, 31 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unwashed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unwashed
Adjective
-
The rulings do not clear the former paramedics of wrongdoing but return the cases to the lower court for a possible retrial.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
5 June 2026
-
The tech contagion spread to stocks in Asia, dragging key indexes lower.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
5 June 2026
Adjective
-
But the earlier dolls were crude, lumpen things, a cross between a beanbag and a sculpted potato.—
Alexandra Schwartz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Yet Empire Falls translates into a lumpen, stodgy miniseries, despite a fine central performance from Harris as a divorced diner owner with deep roots in the town and a structure that allows the past to keep informing and enriching the present.—
Scott Tobias,
Vulture,
14 Apr. 2024
Noun
-
Though Export’s radical feminist art grew out of a particular political moment that had pretty much passed by the time Yuskavage began her career, the artists nonetheless share a rabble-rousing sensibility and an obsession with the unnerving visual punch of the female body.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
23 May 2026
-
In her cell, surrounded by her fellow rabble-rousing women, Deborah works the room.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
Adjective
-
The solution is a more humble acknowledgment of what price indices can and cannot do, combined with policy institutions that reduce the stakes of getting measurement wrong.—
James Broughel,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
-
This $21 pair has an ankle strap for extra support and a humble two-inch heel.—
Reece Andavolgyi,
InStyle,
6 June 2026
Noun
-
Gentile da Foligno in Perugia Italy was one of the few regions in Latin Christendom where physicians organized into guilds in the fourteenth century and thus routinely treated the general populace, rather than merely the wealthier mercantile and aristocratic classes.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 May 2026
-
No matter what happens, the Islamic Republic will not have an easy time reigning over its exhausted populace and rebuilding its economy and infrastructure.—
Arash Azizi,
The Atlantic,
27 May 2026
Adjective
-
This one is about a regular old guy, a hedge knight in the plebeian population of Westeros, just trying to get by in a world that isn't kind to the common and poor.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
13 Jan. 2026
-
Below that sits the pedestrian CLK 500 and plebeian CLK 350.—
Jeremy Korzeniewski,
Robb Report,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
In the 18 months since, Chief of Police Kevin Freeman said the department has responded to around 625 calls for service — 134 of which occurred this calendar year — in regards to people camping or sleeping in public around the city.—
Jenna Ebbers,
Kansas City Star,
3 June 2026
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Hampshire’s police and crime commissioner has called for a review of religious exemptions on the carrying of knives in public after the fatal stabbing of Henry Nowak last December.—
The Week UK,
TheWeek,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
But West Virginia is a proletarian locale that until not long ago was a Democratic stronghold.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
11 Feb. 2026
-
These ranged from the aristocratic elite who dominated the military and bureaucracy and yearned for a return to monarchy, to communists who sought proletarian rule, to the National Socialists who wanted to establish a right-wing dictatorship.—
Time,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unwashed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unwashed. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
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