the great unwashed
3
8.8
- idiom
- Offensive
:
la chusma
- In the end, a ruling over class will exploit the great unwashed masses.
You know, this whole idea that it's this clubby elite group of celebrities who are deigning to speak with the great unwashed about the future of this country.
- You know, this whole idea that it's this clubby elite group of celebrities who are deigning to speak with the great unwashed about the future of this country.
Examples
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We also need to understand that, yes, the worker and the great unwashed masses can't have everything they pine or whine for.
Blog text (5) -
And so they can't let the great unwashed have a voice in politics.
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The great unwashed masses will stir themselves after Labor Day.
Blog text (29) -
Out among the great unwashed masses, you've simply got so much to choose from. Even if there is great music out there, how do you find it?
Blog text (33) -
Yesterday, President Obama echoed Plouffe's statements that we, the great unwashed, don't look at unemployment numbers when deciding for whom to vote.
Blog text (27) -
The politicians often criticize the great unwashed for their lack of understanding.
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In the opinion of the elite, the great unwashed should not influence important decisions.
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She joked that living among the great unwashed gave her a better perspective on life.
Synonyms
264
1.0
Human beings in a group, for example in a country
184
3.0
The large group of ordinary people in a society
15
5.6
A large group of ordinary people in a society
10
6.8
Ordinary people who seem to lack money or good manners
4
9.0
People in a society who are not rich or powerful
2
2.3
Ordinary people in a society who are not rich or powerful
A mixed group of ordinary people who seem unimportant
Antonyms
How Disparaged
- Offensive
3
8.8
- Offensive
39
7.2
2
2.3
16
1.3
264
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'great' here is used in the sense 'large' rather than 'excellent', and 'unwashed' literally suggests people who are not washed, which can metaphorically signal the masses. However, the fixed ironic/derogatory sense 'ordinary people, the masses' depends on idiomatic and cultural knowledge (and a less common sense of 'great'), so a B1 learner who only knows the literal meanings may only partially infer the correct nuance.
Etymology
The phrase the great unwashed may come from old times when many poor people could not wash often, so they were called unwashed, and great just meant 'a large group'. That's why it means 'ordinary people' and is often used in a rude way to show they are different from the 'rich'.