multitude

American  

[muhl-ti-tood, -tyood] / ˈmʌl tɪˌtud, -ˌtjud /

noun

• multitudes
  plural

1. 

   a great number; host.

   a multitude of friends.

2. a great number of people gathered together; crowd; throng.

   Synonyms:

   mass

3. the state or character of being many; numerousness.

4. the multitude, the common people; the masses.

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multitude British  

/ ˈmʌltɪˌtjuːd /

noun

1. a large gathering of people

2. the common people

3. a large number

4. the state or quality of being numerous

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Synonym Usage

See crowd ¹.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• multitudes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of multitude

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English word from Latin word multitūdō. See multi-, -tude

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Explanation

A multitude is a very large number or a huge crowd. If you see a multitude of zombies approaching, you're in trouble. Sometimes the word multitude refers to the common people, or the masses — that is, everyone in a society apart from the political elite. There are a lot of words and phrases for this, like hoi polloi, which is Greek for "the many," and "the great unwashed." Those last two terms are usually used in a disapproving way, but multitudes is generally a positive term. If you were to say that a leader inspired the multitudes to rise up against their oppressor, we'd assume that you sympathized with the multitudes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

multitude multitudes

The sound quality is more than adequate, and where it falls down the electricity coming off of that stage in this performance makes up for a multitude of sins.

From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2026

I've spent years in Europe reporting from a multitude of demonstrations, both peaceful and violent.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

“Immediately noticeable were the sagging eaves, the multitude of leaks from the roof, the dried out, splintered mahogany and the battered exterior woodwork, which had suffered seven decades of winds from the Sound.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

When asked about the names of officials who had withheld information from the public, Mamdani said, "this goes across a multitude of those that New Yorkers have trusted."

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

I meditated upon them when I made my way out before the orchestra, before the silent multitude of Boston’s finest citizens.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

The hilltop cemetery may be a resting place for multitudes, but it’s also a seemingly endless open-air sculpture museum.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

No single category can contain the Whitmanesque multitudes jockeying for position inside us.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

What’s more, you are also donating to a food bank to put food into the backpacks of multitudes of children.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 20, 2026

Among the many tasks: managing ever-multiplying multitudes of cattle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2026

Forgive me, Africa, according to the multitudes of thy mercies.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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Related Words

• horde
• legion
• myriad
• slew
• throng

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