the common people
Not the elite
The common people is a phrase designating ordinary citizens as distinct from the privileged, wealthy, or ruling classes.
It carries democratic or populist connotations, often appearing in political rhetoric that claims to represent average citizens against elites: a candidate who speaks for the common people.
The phrase can sound slightly dated or formal; everyday speech more often uses regular people or ordinary folks.
In historical contexts, it refers to those without noble birth or special rank.
- lower classLowest socioeconomic stratum
- laborersWorkers doing physical tasks
- crowdLarge public gathering
- working classManual laborers collectively
- proletariatLaborers lacking capital ownership
masses · demos · rank and file · hoi polloi · artisans · peasantry · folk traditions · collective memory · vox populi · wage earners · plebeians · serfdom · majority rule · villagers · third estate · grassroots · social movements · rabble
the common peoplethe upper class
Wealthy, privileged social stratum
the elite · royalty · the one percent · high society · lords and ladies
the common peoplethe elite
Most powerful group
celebrities · luminaries · notables · VIPs · the great and the good
people, common, discomfort, uncommon, commons, peoples, uncommonly, populace, commoner