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  1. hoi polloi love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. The common people; the masses.

Wiktionary

  1. n. The common people; the masses. (Used with or without the definite article.)
  2. n. nonstandard, disputed The elite (hoi oligoi).

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the common people generally

Etymologies

  1. From Ancient Greek οἱ (hoi, "the (plural)"), and πολλοί (polloi, "many"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Greek, the many : hoi, nominative pl. of ho, the; see so- in Indo-European roots + polloi, nominative pl. of polus, many; see pelə-1 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “We streamed with hoi polloi out onto the cool and rational street and washed up, blinking, beneath a lamppost, ignoring as best we could the buskers and vendors who had anticipated the crowd.”

    A Monstrous Regiment of Women

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synonyms (21)

Words with the same meaning

  1. multitude
  2. figuratively
  3. peasantry
  4. a
  1. working class
  2. as
  3. class
  4. qualifier
  1. the
  2. great unwashed
  3. used
  4. riffraff
  1. canaille
  2. many
  3. rabble
  4. rank-and-file
  1. when
  2. herd
  3. common people
  4. masses
  1. proletariat

antonyms (1)

Words with the opposite meaning

  1. elite

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. grouping
  1. group

hyponyms (5)

Words that are more specific

  1. followers
  1. following
  1. audience
  1. temporalty
  1. laity

tags (4)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. reduplicative
  1. ppwp_funtosay
  1. word-of-the-day
  1. wotd

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘hoi polloi’.

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Comments

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  • biocon Gk hoi (οἵ, masc. pl.) = the article "the;" Ionic Gk pοllοί (πολλοί, masc. pl. adjective) = many. Hoi polloi = the many, the majority, the masses, the plebes. Jun 23, 2012

  • Dan337 Applauds bilby [working the unworkable] The construction bilby describes is also known as tmesis. Sep 19, 2011

  • bilby Infixes tend to be used by English speakers for dramatic effect or sarcasm; the only non-marked use I can think of right now is with nicknames.
    fan-fucking-tastic
    James 'Catfish' Hunter
    etc.

    hoi horny polloi doesn't really work for me in a general sense. It might work in some kind of ironic context:
    night lights ahoy!
    hourgirls thread their cheap time among
    shore-leave sailors, lewdly anonymous tourists and the
    hoi horny polloi...
    Sep 19, 2011

  • denmarel OK, I'm busted for my mistaken understanding that hoi polloi referred to the rich upper classes. Would it be OK to insert adjectives e.g. "hoi horny polloi" to describe "the horny masses." I was wondering; just a thought.
    Sep 19, 2011

  • blehfu Our lordly style
    You shall not quench
    With base canaille!
    (That word is French.)
    Distinction ebbs
    Before a herd
    Of vulgar plebs!
    (A Latin word.)
    ’Twould fill with joy,
    And madness stark
    The oί πoλλoί!
    (A Greek remark.)
    One Latin word, one Greek remark,
    And one that’s French.

    - Iolanthe, Gilbert & Sullivan Mar 29, 2010

  • lea Definitely a favourite of mine. Hoi=ohoy and pollo=chicken. Chickens, hello! Perfect.. in my inner dictionary. The languages I refer to are Finnish and Italian. But you probably knew that. (Ohoi is pirate language in Finnish.) Feb 28, 2009

  • juicebox the general populace. masses. Mar 1, 2008

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‘hoi polloi’ has been looked up 3624 times, loved by 15 people, added to 105 lists, commented on 7 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.