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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unwashed
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2025
Picking up forks by their prongs with your fingers, especially if unwashed, can just cause the build up of germs and bacteria, negating some of the work your dishwasher just accomplished.
—Lauren Wicks, Southern Living, 24 Nov. 2025
Bliss is said to have examined Garfield's wounds with unwashed hands and dirty tools, and the president's death further damaged his reputation.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Nov. 2025
The Chinese mill’s Soft Raw collection enables customer to use unwashed denim directly off the roll with a soft comfortable hand and deep dark inky indigo shades.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unwashed
Adjective
Sorry Lady Liberty – no unwashed masses need apply.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2025
Picking up forks by their prongs with your fingers, especially if unwashed, can just cause the build up of germs and bacteria, negating some of the work your dishwasher just accomplished.
—Lauren Wicks, Southern Living, 24 Nov. 2025
Bliss is said to have examined Garfield's wounds with unwashed hands and dirty tools, and the president's death further damaged his reputation.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Nov. 2025
The Chinese mill’s Soft Raw collection enables customer to use unwashed denim directly off the roll with a soft comfortable hand and deep dark inky indigo shades.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 17 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unwashed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unwashed
Adjective
-
Previously, just one satellite in the program had reached low Earth orbit — NEONSAT-1, which flew atop an Electron in April 2024.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Rieder is believed to prefer lower interest rates, a top priority for a president who wants massive rate cuts.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
Rhys spent decades, often isolated and paranoid, in lumpen houses and apartments in and out of London, before success arrived late.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
20 June 2022
Noun
-
Tanner spoke in a blend of political rabble-rousing and entrepreneurial uplift.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
21 Jan. 2026
-
There’s something quite magical, really, about millions of bits of colorful paper flying like snow through the air over a raucous rabble.—
Lisa Gutierrez,
Kansas City Star,
31 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Singer Island has a humble personality, with more reverence for its natural beauty and less regard for glamorous perfection than its southern neighbor.—
Kelsey Glennon,
Southern Living,
7 Jan. 2026
-
This humble ingredient is a powerhouse in all kinds of cooking.—
Anne Wolf,
Martha Stewart,
7 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
And there’s the rub, because in reality nobody outside is actually or substantially helping defend the populace against the regime’s onslaught.—
Melik Kaylan,
Forbes.com,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Our populace is broadly wealthy.—
Marc Novicoff,
The Atlantic,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Below that sits the pedestrian CLK 500 and plebeian CLK 350.—
Jeremy Korzeniewski,
Robb Report,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Across the lake, on the plebeian side, up the shoreline a mile or so, in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach, stand twin 32-story towers dubbed Trump Plaza of the Palm Beaches.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
8 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
But putting on a tux and celebrating with an administration that is rapidly falling out of step with the global public — which their shareholders are members of — is different from staying silent.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
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But the deadly shootings this month by federal agents of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti have once again forcefully shifted the administration’s focus onto the highly controversial issues that have divided the American public.—
Brianne Pfannenstiel,
Des Moines Register,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
This new proletarian culture was personified in the ideal of the New Soviet Man.—
Sonja Fritzsche,
The Conversation,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unwashed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unwashed. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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