commoner

noun

com·​mon·​er ˈkä-mə-nər 

1

a

: one of the common people

b

: one who is not of noble rank

2

: a student (as at Oxford) who pays for his own board

Synonyms

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

Examples of commoner in a Sentence

a prince who married a commoner

Recent Examples on the Web

Obasi can’t stand the stench of this alien — who's also a commoner, to boot — and solves the inconvenience by handing him off to his queen Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), who'll raise him in the company of the pride’s females. —Tom Gliatto, People.com, 20 Dec. 2024

What’s more, these sources tend to report the views of the most powerful, concealing dissent—and certainly not paying attention to the attitudes of commoners, as revealed in secondhand incarnations like Wiggo’s tale. —Matthew Gabriele, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Dec. 2024

Maureen loathed that her daughter had married a commoner, and a Jew at that. —Negar Azimi, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2024

The first is the secession of the plebeians, where commoners staged a walkout in protest of unfair treatment by the ruling class. —Phil Kirschner, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing commoner

• gentleman-commoner

Kids Definition

commoner

noun

com·​mon·​er ˈkäm-ə-nər 

: one of the common people : a person who is not of noble rank

Biographical Definition

Commoner

biographical name

Com·​mo·​ner ˈkä-mə-nər 

Barry 1917–2012 American biologist and educator