hoi polloi

[ hoipuh-loi ]

See synonyms for hoi polloi on Thesaurus.com

plural noun

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

Origin of hoi polloi

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hoi polloi in a sentence

This piques romantic curiosity in a fellow refugee of the hoi polloi.
Stars Predict Your Week | Starsky + Cox | October 2, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
Beyond the property lines, too, Chilmark is well tailored to the hoi polloi avoider.
A Vacation From the Public Eye | Sam Bungey | August 22, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
Most are delighted to reside in ivory butter-cream towers far from the roiling, boiling, chaotic hoi polloi below.
An American in Paris—with Brownies | Kathleen Willcox | May 8, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
No use letting the "hoi-polloi" get on to it that I was a greenhorn.
An American Hobo in Europe | Ben Goodkind
And what a Vandervent eats for breakfast makes snappy reading, I think you'd call it, for hoi polloi, eh?
Find the Woman | Arthur Somers Roche

As was well known, when Harris Collins performed he performed only for the élite, for the hoi-polloi of the trained-animal world.
Michael, Brother of Jerry | Jack London
hoi polloi had used another entrance by which to climb to the upper galleries.
Long Live the King | Mary Roberts Rinehart
The book Im at work on is a deliberate attempt to pander to the depraved taste of hoi polloi.
Ainslee's magazine, Volume 16, No. 2, September, 1905 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for hoi polloi

hoi polloi

/ (ˌhɔɪ pəˈlɔɪ) /

pl n

often derogatory the masses; common people

Origin of hoi polloi

Greek, literally: the many

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for hoi polloi

hoi polloi

[ (hoy puh-loy) ]

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.”

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