populace

noun

pop·​u·​lace ˈpä-pyə-ləs 

1

: the common people : masses

2

: population

Did you know?

Populace is usually used to refer to all the people of a country. Thus, we're often told that an educated and informed populace is essential for a healthy American democracy. Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous radio "Fireside Chats" informed and reassured the American populace in the 1930s as we struggled through the Great Depression. We often hear about what "the general populace" is thinking or doing, but generalizing about something so huge can be tricky.

Synonyms

• commoners
• commons
• crowd
• herd
• hoi polloi
• mass
• millions
• mob
• multitude
• people
• plebeians
• plebs
• public
• rank and file

Examples of populace in a Sentence

The populace has suffered greatly.

high officials awkwardly mingling with the general populace

Recent Examples on the Web

For the rest of the populace, look at how the average person’s income has changed, taking into account inflation and population growth. —Harry Enten, CNN Money, 28 Mar. 2025

While this initiative aims to enhance government efficiency, it has been widely discussed that the real reason for the budget cuts are to benefit high-income individuals and corporations (widely referred to by critics as the Trillions for Billionaires Act), at the expense of the general populace. —Solange Charas, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2025

For the eighth year in a row, Finland takes first place as the home of the planet’s happiest populace. —Sandra MacGregor, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025

This was preventable; with better, smarter leadership along with a populace that rewarded leadership for being proper stewards of the community and its assets. —U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French, "mob, rabble," borrowed from Italian popolazzo, popolaccio "the common people, the masses, rabble, mob," from popolo people entry 1 + -azzo, -accio, augmentative and pejorative suffix, going back to Latin -āceus -aceous

Note: The extension of -āceus to nouns, through deletion of the modified head noun, takes place already in Latin (see note at -aceous), and continued into Italian—compare focaccia "flatbread," already attested in Late Latin, from Latin focus "hearth." At some point the notion of appurtenance or similarity appears to have led to that of devaluation, whence the application of the Italian suffix to things of inappropriately large size or inferior quality. The derivatives popolazzo and popolaccio show both the Tuscan outcome -accio and a variant -azzo that represents the outcome of -āceus in Upper Italian or southern Italian dialects.

First Known Use

1572, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for populace

• populous
• populus

Kids Definition

populace

noun

pop·​u·​lace ˈpäp-yə-ləs 

1

: the common people : masses

2

: population sense 1