lesser mortals
Those beneath us
Lesser mortals refers to ordinary people, especially when contrasted with those who are exceptionally talented, powerful, or privileged.
The phrase is almost always used with light irony or self-deprecation: While geniuses grasp calculus intuitively, lesser mortals like me need years of practice.
It plays on the ancient idea of gods versus humans, casting the superior party as divine by comparison.
- minionsObedient subordinates of power
- laypeopleThose outside a profession
- commonersOrdinary citizens, untitled
- common folkOrdinary members of society
- ordinary peopleEveryday individuals, unremarkable
nobodies · plebeians · lower orders · laity · individuals · ordinary · minnows · hoi polloi · inferior · powerless · peons · frailty · finitude · masses · little people · underlings · voiceless · overlooked
lesser mortalsthe elite
Most powerful group
VIPs · the powers that be · movers and shakers · bigwigs · the one percent
lesser mortalsgods
Supernatural beings worshipped
deities · immortals · higher beings · celestials · demigods
lesser, mortals, less, least, mortal, mortality, immortal, immortality, mortally