hoi polloi

American  

[hoi puh-loi] / ˈhɔɪ pəˈlɔɪ /

plural noun

1. Often the hoi polloi the common people; the masses.

---

hoi polloi British  

/ ˌhɔɪ pəˈlɔɪ /

plural noun

1. derogatory the masses; common people

---

hoi polloi Cultural  

1. The masses, the ordinary folk; the phrase is often used in a derogatory way to refer to a popular preference or incorrect opinion: “The hoi polloi may think that Fitzgerald is a great director, but those who know about film realize that his work is commercial and derivative.” From Greek, meaning “the many.”

---

Etymology

Origin of hoi polloi

First recorded in 1835–40; written in Greek letters in 1668 ; from Greek hoi polloí “the many”

Example Sentences

Hardly anyone got a pay raise in 2020 as the pandemic savaged the economy—except those in the Executive Class—while in 2021 modest pay raises for the hoi polloi were widespread.

From Salon • Nov. 3, 2022

No pestilence had been ever so fatal, or so hideous,” begins Poe’s 1842 tale about a prince who parties with revelers safely locked away in his posh castle while the hoi polloi outside perish.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 22, 2022

His belief in his own morality also means that, unlike Axe, he has to worry about what hoi polloi think.

From New York Times • Jan. 21, 2022

Now Palm Springs is known as a picture-postcard fantasy for hoi polloi like you and me, sipping cucumber-infused water poolside while humming bars of “The Girl from Ipanema.”

From Seattle Times • Jan. 14, 2022

Presumably they were used to dazzle hoi polloi.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann