populace

American  

[pop-yuh-luhs] / ˈpɒp yə ləs /

noun

1. the common people of a community, nation, etc., as distinguished from the higher classes.

2. all the inhabitants of a place; population.

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populace British  

/ ˈpɒpjʊləs /

noun

1. the inhabitants of an area

2. the common people; masses

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Etymology

Origin of populace

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

Example Sentences

Like so many 21st-century trends, what feels good for us as individuals is eroding us as a populace.

From The Wall Street Journal

Plato saw it as an inevitable consequence of democracy, when a quest for freedom leads to excess and the populace demands a strongman.

From Salon

Faber is positive about one thing: the ability of capitalism to lift the world’s populace out of poverty.

From MarketWatch

If Kazin had any say, food security for the populace would be the priority.

From MarketWatch

It emerges, historically, when a sufficient mass of the populace has become terrified into unreason and ceded control into the hands of the evil but assured.

From The Wall Street Journal