PLEBEIAN
Dictionary entry overview: What does plebeian mean?
• PLEBEIAN (noun)
The noun PLEBEIAN has 1 sense:
1. one of the common people
Familiarity information: PLEBEIAN used as a noun is very rare.
• PLEBEIAN (adjective)
The adjective PLEBEIAN has 2 senses:
1. of the common people of ancient Rome
2. of or associated with the great masses of people
Familiarity information: PLEBEIAN used as an adjective is rare.
Dictionary entry details
• PLEBEIAN (noun)
Meaning:
One of the common people
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Synonyms:
pleb; plebeian
Hypernyms ("plebeian" is a kind of...):
common man; common person; commoner (a person who holds no title)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plebeian"):
anti-intellectual; lowbrow; philistine (a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits)
Holonyms ("plebeian" is a member of...):
common people; folk; folks (people in general (often used in the plural))
• PLEBEIAN (adjective)
Meaning:
Of the common people of ancient Rome
Context example:
a plebeian magistrate
Also:
middle-class (occupying a socioeconomic position intermediate between those of the lower classes and the wealthy)
Antonym:
patrician (of the hereditary aristocracy or ruling class of ancient Rome or medieval Europe; of honorary nobility in the Byzantine empire)
proletarian (the lowest class of citizens of ancient Rome who had no property)
Meaning:
Of or associated with the great masses of people
Synonyms:
unwashed; plebeian; vulgar; common
Context examples:
the common people in those days suffered greatly / behavior that branded him as common / his square plebeian nose / a vulgar and objectionable person / the unwashed masses
Similar:
lowborn (of humble birth or origins)
