populace

[ pop-yuh-luhs ]

noun

1. the common people of a community, nation, etc., as distinguished from the higher classes.
2. all the inhabitants of a place; population.

populace

/ ˈpɒpjʊləs /

noun

1. the inhabitants of an area
2. the common people; masses

Word History and Origins

Origin of populace¹

1565–75; < French < Italian popolaccio, equivalent to popol ( o ) people + -accio pejorative suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of populace¹

C16: via French from Italian popolaccio the common herd, from popolo people, from Latin populus

Example Sentences

Other events are cancelled amid breakthrough infections and a stubborn portion of the populace that refuses to take the shot.

From Washington Blade

As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.

From FiveThirtyEight

Amar notes that these men argued in a style that might be easily read by the people, but the populace at large, it appears, has dropped out of the conversation entirely.

From Washington Post

Even for a populace very used to some unexpected downside emerging, it’s hard to see where one might emerge in this case.

From Washington Post

Most people in most places were ruled by brute power or by old customs that the populace had never formally consented to in any self-conscious moment of collective choice.

From Time

He proposed among other things that police departments must better reflect the ethnic makeup of the populace.

From The Daily Beast

In Revolution, Brand bemoans our “uninformed populace,” while repeatedly proving his point with fantastically wrong information.

From The Daily Beast

He studied our use of language and the way that words are manipulated to manipulate the populace.

From The Daily Beast

In order for the populace to lead balanced and productive lives, manipulative forces must provide scripted risk.

From The Daily Beast

The Muslim populace who love and support you will never find palatable...the scenes of slaughtering the hostages.

From The Daily Beast

He was accustomed, at his return, or issuing from his gates, to be hailed and lackied by the acclamations of the populace.

From Project Gutenberg

The populace was greatly excited, and a crowded house greeted his appearance.

From Project Gutenberg

He was the man made for the time—precisely the middle term between the reign of the nobility and the reign of the populace.

From Project Gutenberg

The Jacobins now made a direct and infamous attempt to turn the rage of the populace against Madame Roland.

From Project Gutenberg

Luckily, the time fixed for the revolution passed over, without the populace fulfilling its threats.

From Project Gutenberg