the masses

Idioms  

1. The body of common people, or people of low socioeconomic status, as in TV sitcoms are designed to appeal to the masses. This idiom is nearly always used in a snobbish context that puts down the taste, intelligence, or some other quality of the majority of people. W.S. Gilbert satirized this view in the peers' march in Iolanthe (1882), in which the lower-middle class and the masses are ordered to bow down before the peers. Prime Minister William Gladstone took a different view (Speech, 1886): “All the world over, I will back the masses against the [upper] classes.” [First half of 1800s]

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Example Sentences

“What these guys have done is do the thing that prediction markets before have not done well, which is bring the masses to the market,” she said.

From Salon • May 24, 2026

Woolworth and Paramount Pictures offering relief to the masses.

From Barron's • May 20, 2026

The in-person meetings allow him to find standout talent whose applications might blend into the masses on paper.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026

The results were nearly identical, suggesting that the composition of the masses was not responsible for the discrepancy.

From Science Daily • May 18, 2026

On hearing about Milton’s death, she had removed her hairnet, tearing at the masses of hair that tumbled down.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides