Skip to main content
mass

mass

11 3.0
The large group of ordinary people in a society
  • noun
  • /mæs/
: masa
  • Movies are entertaining enough for the masses, but the personalities on the screen just don't impress me.
  • mass media
  • mass culture
  • mobilize the masses

He says the mass of men, the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • And yet, I already know... that what we say here... means nothing to the masses of our country.

  • So, we now gonna be feeding the masses.

  • Such influence is at the direct expense of the mass of the people in Nigeria.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Church is the opiate of the masses.

  • Sir, you heard from the men who don't like my humour, but what about the silent masses who do?

  • You don't know what kind of seed it's gonna plant, and, you know, the politicians and the big businesses will listen to the masses.

  • It is a dangerous distraction to the masses.

  • I don't understand how there isn't a mass progressive movement to oppose it.

  • The people here in Kenya, masses of the Africans here in Kenya, are probably roughly at about the same stage Great Britain was 500 years ago.

  • Dance is becoming more accessible to the masses as new studios open in every neighborhood.

Synonyms

people
vsmass
∞ 1.0

Human beings in a group, for example in a country

refers specifically to ordinary members of society, not all humans or citizens
masses
vsmass
144 2.3

Ordinary people in a society who are not rich or powerful

is a general label for ordinary people in society, not stressing the power contrast
common people
vsmass
20 1.3

People who are not rich or powerful

is the collective term for ordinary people as a social group rather than individuals
multitude
vsmass
4 5.6

A large group of ordinary people in a society

is the usual name for ordinary people without stressing large numbers
hoi polloi
vsmass
4 9.0

People in a society who are not rich or powerful

is about ordinary people opposed to the wealthy and powerful
the great unwashed
vsmass
  • Offensive
3 8.8

Ordinary people who richer, more powerful people often talk about in a rude way

is the neutral term for ordinary people without mockery or insult

Antonyms

234 4.7

A small group of the most powerful or rich people in a society

38 3.4

A social group with the most money and power

Compounds

170 4.3

Great damage to a wide area often caused by war or a big disaster

A thing that can kill or injure many people, like nuclear, chemical and biological devices

48 6.7

Killing many people on purpose at the same time or in a short time

34 7.7

A person who kills many people at one time

28 3.8

A way to send information to many people, like TV or radio

20 5.6

Enough people or support for something to start and keep going

13 6.1

Many people feel strong fear and act in a panicked, irrational way

Making large numbers of the same product on an assembly line

13 2.8

A large area of land that is not separated by water

body mass index
  • Specialized
6 3.2

A number that shows if a person's weight is healthy for their height

mass spec
  • Jargon
6 3.8

A lab test that finds which chemicals are in a sample

4 3.9

A set of shared ideas, styles, and entertainment spread by TV and the internet

center of mass
  • Specialized
4 5.7

Point in an object where we think its mass is concentrated for balance and movement

mass spectrometer
  • Specialized
3 5.5

A machine that measures the masses of charged particles from a sample

air mass
  • Specialized
3 3.4

A large area of air with about the same temperature, humidity, and pressure

mass energy
  • Specialized
3 7.9

Energy an object has because of its mass, as in E = mc²

atomic mass
  • Specialized
1 3.6

A number that tells how heavy one atom of an element is in atomic mass units

1 3.4

A large public gathering where people meet to support or protest a cause

critical mass
  • Specialized
1 6.2

The smallest amount of nuclear material needed to start and keep a chain reaction

1 8.9

A solemn Catholic church service with full ceremony, music, and incense

ice mass
  • Specialized
1 3.3

A large area of ice that forms part of a glacier or ice sheet

1 9.2

A priest leads a short Roman Catholic church service with little or no singing

point mass
  • Specialized
1 7.9

An object with mass but no size used to make physics problems easier

mass noun
  • Specialized
1 5.9

A word that names something you cannot count and usually has no plural form

rest mass
  • Specialized
1 7.4

The amount of matter in an object measured when it is not moving, not how heavy it feels

inertial mass
  • Specialized
1 8.6

A measure of how hard it is to change an object's motion when a force pushes it

1 8.5

A card sent to someone who lost a loved one saying a Mass will be said for them

mass number
  • Specialized
1 4.9

The total number of protons and neutrons in an atom's nucleus

A computer attack that can damage systems and harm many people

conservation of mass
  • Specialized
1 4.0

The total mass in a system that does not gain or lose matter stays the same over time

mass unit
  • Specialized
1 3.0

A unit used to measure how heavy something is, like a gram or kilogram

mass spectrum
  • Specialized
1 6.8

A graph that shows how many charged particles have each mass

relativistic mass
  • Specialized
1 9.9

The mass a moving object seems to have as its speed gets near the speed of light

mass spectroscopy
  • Specialized
1 6.0

A method that measures the mass of tiny charged particles

A system of underground or above ground trains that carries many people quickly

mass action
  • Specialized
1 8.8

Large areas of the brain work together for complex tasks

law of mass action
  • Specialized
1 6.0

The speed of a chemical reaction depends on the amounts of the substances that react

1 8.1

The idea that mass can turn into energy and energy can turn into mass

atomic mass unit
  • Specialized
1 3.9

A small unit for mass used to measure atoms and molecules

1 4.1

Matter stays the same in a closed system

1 4.1

A large public discussion with many people about important issues

gravitational mass
  • Specialized
1 7.9

A measure of how strongly an object pulls other objects by gravity

mass spectrograph
  • Specialized
1 4.9

A machine that separates tiny charged parts of atoms by mass and shows them on a graph

relative atomic mass
  • Specialized
1 5.3

The mass of an atom compared with one twelfth of a carbon-12 atom

pointlike mass
  • Specialized
1 8.6

A mass with no size that physicists treat as if at a single point

6.1

A formal church service with set ceremonies and a serious mood

mass defect
  • Specialized
7.4

The mass difference between a nucleus inside an atom and the total mass of its protons and neutrons

mass deficiency
  • Specialized
7.7

Amount of mass missing when protons and neutrons join and release energy

mass-action principle
  • Specialized
9.8

A theory that large areas of the brain work together for complex tasks

5.6

The mass of all the atoms in one molecule compared with one twelfth of a carbon-12 atom

How Many

mass
11 3.0
multitude
4 5.6
public
∞ 1.0
community
∞ 2.8
household
505 1.0
individual
∞ 2.3

Surface Forms

mass singular
masses plural

Etymology

Mass comes from the old Latin massa, meaning 'lump', and it helps to imagine many ordinary people as one large group. When writers speak of the 'mass' they mean the common people rather than a few rich or powerful people. That's why 'the mass' means the ordinary people of society.