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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
Gentile da Foligno in Perugia Italy was one of the few regions in Latin Christendom where physicians organized into guilds in the fourteenth century and thus routinely treated the general populace, rather than merely the wealthier mercantile and aristocratic classes.
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Literary Hub, 27 May 2026
No matter what happens, the Islamic Republic will not have an easy time reigning over its exhausted populace and rebuilding its economy and infrastructure.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
Morgan State’s work in benchmarking AI in diverse contexts is helping build more robust, reliable systems that better reflect — and serve — the full breadth of the populace.
—Deborah Wince-Smith, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
This spring and summer, an interactive exhibit in Oakland will unleash a whole menagerie of cool dinosaurs upon the populace — turkey-sized velociraptors, spiky stegosaurs and of course big ol T-rex itself.
—John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 20 May 2026
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Literary Hub, 27 May 2026
No matter what happens, the Islamic Republic will not have an easy time reigning over its exhausted populace and rebuilding its economy and infrastructure.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
Morgan State’s work in benchmarking AI in diverse contexts is helping build more robust, reliable systems that better reflect — and serve — the full breadth of the populace.
—Deborah Wince-Smith, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
This spring and summer, an interactive exhibit in Oakland will unleash a whole menagerie of cool dinosaurs upon the populace — turkey-sized velociraptors, spiky stegosaurs and of course big ol T-rex itself.
—John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 20 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for populace
Cite this Entry
“Populace.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/populace. Accessed 29 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
populace
noun
pop·u·lace
ˈpäp-yə-ləs 
1
: the common people : masses
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