Standard Lemma guide

canaille

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /kəˈnaɪ/
  • /kəˈneɪl/
  • kə-nī􂀽'
  • kə-nāl􂀽'
  • rhymes with -aɪ
  • rhymes with -eɪl

1

noun

Meaning 1

The lowest class of people; the rabble; the vulgar.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: collective, countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: canaille, commonality, commonalty, crowd, demos, everyone, general public, great unhosed, great unwashed, herd, hoi polloi, lower class, many, masses, mob, multitude, odds and sods, peasantry, plebs, populace, proletariat, rabble, rank and file, riffraff, third estate, trash, unwashed, unwashed masses, working class

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Shorts or inferior flour.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Canada, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓder. Latin canēs Latin canisder. Vulgar Latin *canālia Italian canagliabor. Middle French canaillebor. English canaille Borrowed from Middle French canaille.