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varletry

American  
[vahr-li-tree] / ˈvɑr lɪ tri /

noun

Archaic.

  1. varlets collectively.

  2. the mob or rabble.

varletry British  
/ ˈvɑːlɪtrɪ /

noun

  1. rabble; mob

  2. varlets collectively

"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

Etymology

Origin of varletry

First recorded in 1600–10; varlet + -ry

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"I will go and fright the varletry with my presence, and secure, I trust, a horse for your majesty, and one for myself."

From The Princess and Curdie by MacDonald, George

She'll not be "chastised with the sober eye of dull Octavia," nor shown "to the shouting varletry of censuring Rome."

From The Man Shakespeare by Harris, Frank

Sorrows and sighs shall be the varletry, To serve the lovers at this festival: The table shall be death, black death profound; Weep, stones, and utter sighs, ye walls around!

From Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Second Series by Brown, Horatio Robert Forbes

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.