hoi polloi, the

hoi polloi, the

The masses. This term, which was Greek for the common people or the crowd, was used by John Dryden in his Essay of Dramatick Poesie (1668). “If by the people,” he wrote, “you understand the multitude, the hoi polloi, ’tis no matter what they think; . . . their judgment is a mere lottery.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • along the beaten track
  • beaten
  • come from far and wide
  • BIPOC
  • couple
  • couple of
  • a couple of (people or things)
  • big and bold
  • force of numbers
  • chief
References in periodicals archive
He is desperate to stop people, the hoi polloi, the poor, the old and the disabled from starting a civil war.
SNP saved us from Cameron's excess
But the mask slipped when he showed in his Margaret Thatcher lecture the Bullingdon Boy's contempt for what he, as a classical scholar, might call the hoi polloi, the Ancient Greek's term for the Great Unwashed.
Stay away from sin of greed Boris
He should also know that as much as they might display an empathy with the hoi polloi, the blue bloods and the aristos always confine their friendships to those of the same class.
CAR0LE MALONE's Column: THE BUTLER'S SORE
Rather than mix with the hoi polloi, the stars of culture and business arrive like a deus ex-machina to perform for the plebs below, or to meet those waiting expectantly for them in the conference bubble.
Reviving Lingotto