English

Noun

populace ‎(countable and uncountable, plural populaces)

1. The common people of a nation.
   • The populace despised their ignorant leader.
   • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:

     Throughout the 1500s, the populace roiled over a constellation of grievances of which the forest emerged as a key focal point. The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied the struggle over wood.

2. The inhabitants of a nation.

Usage notes

• Do not confuse populace (a noun) with populous (an adjective).

Synonyms

• (common people of a nation): common people, hoi polloi, masses, people, rabble, riff-raff
• (inhabitants of a nation): inhabitants, population

Translations

Czech

Pronunciation

Noun

populace f

1. population

Derived terms

• populační

French

Noun

populace f ‎(plural populaces)

1. populace, common people