great unwashed

WOTD – 10 January 2008    

English

Etymology

Attributed to Edmund Burke.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˌɡreɪt ʌnˈwɒʃt/, X-SAMPA: /%grEIt Vn.wQSt/
• (US) IPA: /ˌɡreɪt ʌnˈwɑːʃt/, /ˌɡreɪt ʌnˈwɔːʃt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

great unwashed (plurale tantum)

1. (idiomatic) A contemptuous term for the populace, particularly the working class.
   • 1995, Christina Blizzard, Right Turn: How the Tories Took Ontario

     The Liberal campaign was so carefully orchestrated that McLeod was never in a position to be confronted by the great unwashed. Unfortunately, the great unwashed rarely vote for a leader whom they have never met.

Synonyms

• (the populace): hoi polloi, unwashed masses

Translations

a contemptuous term for the populace, particularly the working class

• French: vulgum pecus (fr) m
• Polish: buractwo n, tłuszcza f

• Romanian: vulg (ro) n, prostime (ro) f