great unwashed
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of great unwashed
First recorded in 1855–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To me, it speaks to the elitism and shallowness of the trio that they are repelled by folks who are not as upscale as they are — they are repelled by “the great unwashed.”
From Los Angeles Times
The dress code for Monday's red carpet is The Garden of Time, which shares its name with a dystopian tale written in 1962 by JG Ballard, in which the last bastion of the super-rich is overrun by a working-class mob of the "great unwashed".
From BBC
At Toro, his long hair, earring and fondness for holidays in Ibiza had endeared him to the great unwashed.
From BBC
I was a member of the great unwashed who attended public school.
From Salon
He eventually played with more than 100 bands, including the Great Unwashed, the Sundae Painters and Monsterland, and lived for almost 30 years in New York, where he formed the band the Mad Scene.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
