Phrase guide

hoi polloi

noun · 3 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.

  • /ˈhɔɪ pəˌlɔɪ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɔɪ

1

noun

Meaning 1

The common people; the masses. (Used with or without the definite article.)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: collective, plural, plural-only

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: elite

2

noun

Meaning 2

The elite.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: nonstandard, plural, plural-only

Qualifier: see Usage notes

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the common people generally

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • separate the warriors from the mass
  • power to the people

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: multitude, masses, mass, people, the great unwashed

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: group, grouping

Narrower terms: laity, temporalty, audience, following, followers

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek οἱ πολλοί (hoi polloí, “the many”).

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 民眾 /民众 (mínzhòng) — the common people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 庶民 (shùmín) — the common people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大眾 /大众 (dàzhòng) — the common people
  • Danish: pøbel — the common people
  • Dutch: gepeupel — the common people
  • Esperanto: popolamaso — the common people
  • Estonian: lihtrahvas — the common people
  • Estonian: pööbel — the common people
  • Finnish: rahvas — the common people
  • French: plèbe — the common people
  • French: populace — the common people
  • French: vulgum pecus — the common people
  • French: commun des mortels — the common people
  • Galician: vulgo — the common people
  • German: Pöbel — the common people
  • Greek: οι πολλοί (oi polloí) — the common people
  • Greek: πλήθος (plíthos) — the common people
  • Greek: μάζα (máza) — the common people
  • Hungarian: köznép — the common people
  • Icelandic: lýðurinn — the common people
  • Icelandic: sauðsvartur almúginn — the common people
  • Irish: slua — the common people
  • Japanese: 大衆 (taishū) — the common people
  • Japanese: 庶民 (shomin) — the common people
  • Polish: plebs — the common people
  • Polish: hołota — the common people
  • Portuguese: hoi polloi — the common people
  • Portuguese: plebe — the common people
  • Portuguese: gentalha — the common people
  • Russian: ма́ссы (mássy) — the common people
  • Russian: простонаро́дье (prostonaródʹje) — the common people
  • Russian: бы́дло (býdlo) — the common people
  • Spanish: populacho — the common people
  • Spanish: plebe — the common people
  • Swedish: pöbeln — the common people
  • Swedish: kreti och pleti — the common people