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

It said it would introduce new rules to tackle fraud and a lack of transparency in funeral pricing to "reduce the burden of funerals on the masses".

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

The wisdom-of-crowds argument presupposes that the masses possess some recondite knowledge that can be unlocked by allowing individuals to express themselves as part of an anonymous mob.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026

The resulting simulations replicate the masses, locations, and motions of the Milky Way and Andromeda, as well as the positions and velocities of 31 galaxies just outside the Local Group.

From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2026

Altman bragged about how ChatGPT has more free users in the state of Texas alone than Claude has total users, and he spoke of spreading A.I. to the masses.

From Slate • Feb. 10, 2026

A thick line of police fanned out to hold the masses back.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand