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Populace is usually used to refer to all the people of a country. Thus, we're often told that an educated and informed populace is essential for a healthy American democracy. Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous radio "Fireside Chats" informed and reassured the American populace in the 1930s as we struggled through the Great Depression. We often hear about what "the general populace" is thinking or doing, but generalizing about something so huge can be tricky.
Examples of populace in a Sentence
The populace has suffered greatly.
high officials awkwardly mingling with the general populace
Recent Examples on the Web
In contrast to the anti-immigrant rhetoric emanating from the White House, the survey of 800 California voters portrays a populace that values the contributions of immigrants, regardless of legal status, and believes their well-being is intertwined with a well-functioning state.
—
Rebecca Plevin, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Their exodus leaves behind a populace that, like in the Weimar Republic, dismisses each authoritarian advance as temporary, necessary—or even more astonishing, somehow contained.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
Trump’s obsessive policing of who’s the sucker has given him political clout with a populace trained to be vigilant to the prospect of being scammed—even by the least plausible fraudsters.
—Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, TIME, 18 Mar. 2025
The sudden unraveling of Syria has prompted public anxiety within Iran, where persistent repression and corruption have also driven a wedge between the government and its populace (as has secularization).
—Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Foreign Affairs, 17 Mar. 2025
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Rebecca Plevin, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2025
Their exodus leaves behind a populace that, like in the Weimar Republic, dismisses each authoritarian advance as temporary, necessary—or even more astonishing, somehow contained.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
Trump’s obsessive policing of who’s the sucker has given him political clout with a populace trained to be vigilant to the prospect of being scammed—even by the least plausible fraudsters.
—Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, TIME, 18 Mar. 2025
The sudden unraveling of Syria has prompted public anxiety within Iran, where persistent repression and corruption have also driven a wedge between the government and its populace (as has secularization).
—Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Foreign Affairs, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for populace
Cite this Entry
“Populace.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/populace. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
populace
noun
pop·u·lace
ˈpäp-yə-ləs 
1
: the common people : masses
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