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• mob
  mob

  noun

  a disorderly or riotous crowd of people.
• MOB
  MOB

  mother of the bride.

mob

¹ American  

[mob] / mɒb /

noun

1. a disorderly or riotous crowd of people.

2. a crowd bent on or engaged in lawless violence.

3. any group or collection of persons or things.

4. the common people; the masses; populace or multitude.

5. a criminal gang, especially one involved in drug trafficking, extortion, etc.

6. the Mob, Mafia.

7. Sociology. a group of persons stimulating one another to excitement and losing ordinary rational control over their activity.

8. a flock, herd, or drove of animals.

   a mob of sheep.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a lawless, irrational, disorderly, or riotous crowd: mob instincts.

   mob rule;

   mob instincts.

2. directed at or reflecting the lowest intellectual level of the common people: the mob mentality.

   mob appeal;

   the mob mentality.

verb (used with object)

• mobs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• mobbed,
  past participle,  past
• mobbing
  present participle

1. to crowd around noisily, as from curiosity or hostility.

   Spectators mobbed the courtroom.

2. to attack in a riotous mob.

   The crowd mobbed the consulate.

3. Fox Hunting. to chop (a fox).

mob ² American  

[mob, mohb] / mɒb, moʊb /

noun

Digital Technology.

1. (in a video game) a hostile nonplayer character that the player may target and fight.

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MOB ³ American  

1. mother of the bride.

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mob ¹ British  

/ mɒb /

noun

1. 1. a riotous or disorderly crowd of people; rabble

   2. ( as modifier )

      mob law

      mob violence

2. derogatory a group or class of people, animals, or things

3. a flock (of sheep) or a herd (of cattle, esp when droving)

4. derogatory the masses

5. slang a gang of criminals

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verb

1. to attack in a group resembling a mob

2. to surround, esp in order to acclaim

   they mobbed the film star

3. to crowd into (a building, plaza, etc)

4. (of a group of animals of a prey species) to harass (a predator)

MOB ² British  

abbreviation

1. mobile phone

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Usage

What does mob mean? A mob is an unruly and often violent group of people, especially one engaged in a riot or other lawless violence. Some mobs organize intentionally to engage in violence and destruction, but sometimes people assemble spontaneously and turn into a mob, such as in reaction to some event. Because people who have massed together in such a way typically don’t follow any formal leadership or string of command, mobs are known for getting out of control and engaging in chaotic, unpredictable, and often violent behavior. Sometimes, the word refers to a large group of people acting in an aggressive or hostile way in a virtual space, as in Don’t post that unless you want to feel the wrath of the social media mob. This sense of mob is often used as a modifier (adjective) to describe things carried out by mobs or involving mobs, as in mob violence and mob rule. Like the word riot, the word mob is sometimes intentionally used inaccurately to portray groups in a negative way when this characterization is not warranted. For example, an opponent of a protest might call a group of peaceful protesters a mob as an attempt to discredit the protesters and their message. The word mob can also be used as a verb meaning to assemble in large numbers or crowd around someone or something, especially in an unruly way, as in Holiday shoppers mobbed the store as soon as it opened or The star is mobbed by photographers every time she leaves her house. A place or person who has been crowded in this way can be described with the adjective mobbed. As a verb, mob can also mean to attack as a mob, as in Wave after wave of rebels mobbed the embassy. Mob is sometimes used as a noun in a more figurative way to collectively refer to common people or the masses, in which case it is typically preceded by the, as in His campaign platform is too subtle to win over the mob. This sense of the word often implies that the common people lack sophistication, intelligence, or are otherwise base and crude. This is what’s implied in the phrase mob mentality, which refers to a mindset motivated by the basest human instincts. Much more specifically, organized crime groups known as the Mafia are sometimes also referred to as the Mob. A member of the Mob can be called a mobster. Example: Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of a mob is that the group and the people in it have passed the point of being able to be reasoned with.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mobber
  noun
• mobbishness
  noun
• mobbism
  noun
• mobbist
  noun
• mobbish
  adjective
• unmobbed
  adjective
• mobbishly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• mobbing
  present
• mobbed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• mob
  simple
• mobs
  simple
• have mobbed
  perfect
• has mobbed
  perfect
• am mobbing
  progressive
• are mobbing
  progressive
• is mobbing
  progressive
• have been mobbing
  perfect progressive
• has been mobbing
  perfect progressive

Past

• mobbed
  simple
• had mobbed
  perfect
• was mobbing
  progressive
• were mobbing
  progressive
• had been mobbing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will mob
  simple
• will have mobbed
  perfect
• will be mobbing
  progressive
• will have been mobbing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of mob¹

First recorded in 1680–90; short for Latin mōbile vulgus “the movable (i.e., changeable, inconstant) common people”

Origin of mob²

First recorded in 1980–85; coined by British video game developer Richard Bartle; shortening of mobile (in the sense “a moving sculpture hung from the ceiling”)

Explanation

A mob is a big, rowdy group of people. You might avoid shopping at the mall right before Christmas because you can't stand the mob of shoppers. A mob might gather around the piñata at a big birthday party or cluster in front of a music venue when tickets go on sale for a hugely popular concert. When people join one of these groups, you can also say that they mob, and "the mob" also sometimes refers to organized crime. You might describe the hundreds of people thronging the county fair on Friday night as a "mob scene." The Latin root, mobile vulgus, means "fickle common people."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mob MOB mobs mobbed mobbing

Reasonable action to restrict and control migration today will, one hopes, avoid the excessive crackdowns, to say nothing of mob violence, that the world has seen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Ndileka Mandela on anti-migrant protests: 'Grandad wanted rule of law not mob justice'

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

There’s a well-known scene from a 2001 episode of “SpongeBob SquarePants” in which a mob of fish mistakes a feeble old man for a bully and attacks him.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

She can go really mob wife really quick.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

She marches forward, against the current, even as the mob grows, cascading in an avalanche of panic that picks up everyone else in its path—including those who don’t even know why they’re running.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

"The president of the MOB initiated an immediate consultation with the IOC sports director in order to clarify the situation," it added.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2024

I am the MOB who has been forbidden to discuss this with the MOG.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2021

Louis Vuitton was recently involved in a suit against a brand called My Other Bag, which uses a pattern similar to theirs with MOB printed as opposed to LV.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 8, 2016

“They are just beating down our door,” said Tony Carmean, a principal in San Diego-based Aerial MOB.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2014

Later, the Bruins moved the Curb Event Center, and the MOB slowly grew.

From Newsweek ● Mar. 15, 2011

The name suggests altitude, and this whitewashed village of barely 2,000 in the Algarve region is only a half-hour’s drive inland from the beach town of Albufeira and its package-tour mobs but feels centuries away.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

Duer was dragged to the gaol on March 23, trailed by mobs of creditors, including members of the city’s most prominent families.

From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026

Epstein asked. "defend myself? or try to ignore. realizing that mobs are dangerous."

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026

Police claim that several witnesses were pushed during the flash mobs, but there were no reports of injuries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2024

Please help the soldiers to keep the mobs away from me.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

Fans mobbed an airport to jeer him as he boarded a private jet bound for LSU.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

The Cartier shop inside one major Seoul department store got so mobbed by shoppers that some items from its “D’Amour” jewelry collection can now be bought only online.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

He said the High Street was "mobbed" when he was younger, but not anymore.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

His fellow relievers mobbed him in an impromptu mosh pit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026

When the boy arrived back at Yuma High, the whole school mobbed him in the parking lot: banners, cheerleaders, band music, confetti, streamers.

From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli

But as any financial news reader knows, investors have been mobbing the exits of nontraded private credit funds in the past month.

From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026

But Leonard came through, his teammates mobbing him after the shot in celebration.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2025

They were treated like superstars, with crowds waiting for autographs, camping outside their hotel and mobbing their team coach.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2024

Newsom’s office declined to identify which Target the encounter occurred at, to keep the media from mobbing the store.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2024

But then the team was mobbing him, and I jogged off the track.

From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli

Related Words

• clan
• crowd
• flock
• gang
• horde
• mass
• riot
• swarm
• throng
• troop