Populace Meaning
/ˈpɒpjʊləs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe common people of a nation.
nounThe inhabitants of a country or one of its administrative divisions (such as a state, province, or county).
Sentence Examples
The populace was in thrall to the dictator's whims.
The gazing populace receive greedily, without examination, whatever soothes superstition and promotes wonder.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The entire ____ of the small town turned out for the annual festival.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The government struggled to convince the general ____ that the new tax was fair and necessary.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Middle French populace, from Italian popolaccio, from popolo + -accio (“pejorative suffix”), from Latin populus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:
"Thomas Brassey (1805-70) should be equally famous, yet he is unknown to swathes of the greater populace. His plaque is at Chester."
— 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Chester (1848)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 57:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The entire ____ of the small town turned out for the annual festival.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The government struggled to convince the general ____ that the new tax was fair and necessary.