unwashed masses
The great unwashed
The unwashed masses is a derogatory term for common people, especially the poor or working class, implying they lack refinement, education, or hygiene.
The phrase carries aristocratic contempt: He wouldn't dream of mingling with the unwashed masses.
Often used ironically or self-deprecatingly: I'll be in coach with the rest of the unwashed masses.
- lower classLowest socioeconomic stratum
- plebeiansRoman lower classes
- impoverishedExtremely lacking in money
- rabbleDisorderly, noisy crowd
- populaceInhabitants of a place
commoners · salt of the earth · hoi polloi · subalterns · marginalized · proletariat · needy · peasantry · multitude · common folk · ordinary folk · common people · herd mentality · ignorant · uncultured · disenfranchised · provincial · working class
unwashed massesaristocracy
Rule by hereditary elite
upper class · elite · nobility · gentry · patricians
unwashed massesintelligentsia
Educated, intellectual class
literati · cognoscenti · glitterati · sophisticates · highbrows
unwashed massesruling class
Dominant governing stratum
powers that be · establishment · oligarchy · power brokers · movers and shakers
unwashed, masses, wash, washed, washing, washer, washable, mass, massed