Word.ws English Dictionary

plebs

/plɛbz/

plebs is the plural of pleb.

Noun

plebs (uncountable)

  1. (historical, plural, plural-only) The plebeian class of Ancient Rome or its equivalent in other ancient societies.
    • Why I am going with my pidgeons to the tribunall Plebs.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    Synonyms:
    plebeiate
  2. (plural, plural-only) The common people, especially (derogatory) the mob.
    • For 'tis an Easier Thing
      To make Trees Leape, and Stones selfe-burthens bring
      (As once Amphion to the walls of Thæbes,)a. 1657, George Daniel, "The Author" in Poems, Vol. II, p. 131
    • Chaos A.D. / Tanks On The Streets / Confronting Police / Bleeding The Plebs1993, Max Cavalera, "Refuse/Resist", Sepultura, Chaos A.D.

Meaning of pleb

Noun

pleb (plural plebs)

  1. A commoner; a member of the lower class of a society.
  2. (derogatory) A common person; an unsophisticated or cultureless person.
    • You're under my roof, you pleb.1795, John O'Keeffe, Life's Vagaries, act V, scene ii, line 85
  3. (US, derogatory, slang, usually) A freshman cadet at a military academy.
    • I found some of the novices, plebs they are called, home-sick, and weary with their discipline.1838, Caroline H. Gilman, The Poetry of Travelling in the United States..., page 76

See all 5 meanings of pleb

Synonyms of plebs

20 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Origin of plebs

From Latin plēbs (“the plebeian class”), variant of earlier plēbēs. Later also understood as the plural of pleb.

Words formed from plebs

Words that rhyme with plebs

Questions about plebs

What does plebs mean?
Plebs means the plebeian class of Ancient Rome or its equivalent in other ancient societies.
What is plebs the plural of?
Plebs is the plural of pleb.
What part of speech is plebs?
Plebs is a noun.
How do you pronounce plebs?
Plebs is pronounced /plɛbz/.

Words near plebs in the dictionary

  1. plebiscites
  2. plebiscitic
  3. plebiscitum
  4. plebiscitums
  5. plebity
  6. plebs
  7. plec
  8. plecanatide
  9. pleck
  10. plecks
  11. pleckstrin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: plebs (page history and authors); pleb (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “plebs.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/plebs. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.