masses
noun/ˈmæs.ɪz/
1
People, especially a large number of people; the general population.
- The masses were mobilized not only to perform typical activities that are part of agricultural production, but also unusual ones such as killing sparrows and rats that were reportedly competing with humans for food. For instance, in 1958, the people of Tunliu County in Shanxi Province were determined to kill all sparrows and rats within their territory.2009, Shiping Hua, “Reforms within Communism: China”, in Chinese Utopianism: A Comparative Study of Reformist Thought with Japan and Russia, 1898-1997 (Chinese Studies/Political Theory), Woodrow Wilson Center Press; Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 71:
- Since first tossing its cartoonish, good-time cock-rock to the masses in the early ’00s, The Darkness has always fallen back on this defense: The band is a joke, but hey, it’s a good joke. With Hot Cakes—the group’s third album, and first since reforming last year—the laughter has died. In its place is the sad wheeze of the last surviving party balloon slowly, listlessly deflating.2012 August 21, Jason Heller, “The Darkness: Hot Cakes (Music Review)”, in The Onion AV Club:
2
The total population.
- The masses will be voting this Tuesday.
- Dennis: Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.1975, Monty Python, Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
3
The lower classes or all but the elite.
- […] the ignorant masses […]
- Ken Cuccinelli tweaked the famous poem from Emma Lazarus – whose words, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” are long associated with immigration to the US and the nation’s history as a haven – as part of a case for strict new measures pushed Monday by the Trump administration that could dramatically change the legal immigration system.2019 August 13, Devan Cole and Caroline Kelly, “Cuccinelli rewrites Statue of Liberty poem to make case for limiting immigration”, in CNN:
- Synonyms
- unwashed
- Derived terms
- tyranny of the masses, unwashed masses