rabble

1 of 2

noun

rab·ble ˈra-bəl

plural rabbles

Synonyms of rabble next

: a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people : mob

Maybe the film's best stretch comes when the boys … race through the streets while singing "Born to Run," and inspire a rabble of unemployed factory men to join along.—

David Ehrlich

Nobody wants political parties that behave like unruly rabbles.—

Chris Bryant

: a group, class, or body regarded with contempt

… the whole of that vile rabble came sweeping off the hilltop and down the slope right past their hiding-place.—

C. S. Lewis

: ordinary or common people lacking wealth, power, or social status

—usually used with the

In the vaudeville theaters the "refined" could, if they chose, sit safe from the rabble [=the masses] in the more expensive box and orchestra seats.—

David Nasaw

Plagued by overflowing prisons and an irrepressible wave of crime, George III hit upon a cruel solution: ship the rabble off to the far ends of the earth …—

James Atlas

In Elizabethan England, there were sumptuary laws to prevent members of the rabble from dressing above their station.—

Rob Walker

: a disorganized or confused collection of things

The size of the Academy's official dictionary … showed its determination to eradicate the rabble of synonyms, onomatopoeias and vulgarities.—

Graham Robb

The punch was as hard as any Ali ever took. When he rose, his thoughts were a rabble and his legs looked ready to do a Groucho Marx impersonation.—

Hugh McIlvanney

rabble

2 of 2

verb

rabbled; rabbling ˈra-b(ə-)liŋ

transitive verb

: to insult or assault by or as a mob

Did you know?

Rabble has been with the English language since its appearance in Middle English (as rabel) around the turn of the 15th century. The Middle English rabel (originally used to denote a pack or swarm of animals or insects) may have come from the verb rabel which meant "to babble" (despite the similarity in sound and meaning, however, babble and rabble are linguistically unrelated). The verb rabel is related to Middle Dutch rabbelen and Low German rabbeln, meaning "to speak rapidly or indistinctly" or "to chatter." So how do we get from babbling to crowds of people? The connecting link may be the idea of confusion. Rabble, in its earliest uses, could indicate a pack of animals, a swarm of insects, or a confused collection of things, in addition to a confused or meaningless string of words.

Examples of rabble in a Sentence

Noun the crown prince was reminded that even the rabble of the realm deserved his attention and compassion

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Noun

Advertisement From start to finish, pure madness, amid a rabble that never calmed, never quieted, never quit. —

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2024 All this anti-Soviet scum, all this rabble revolves around Sakharov. —

Gal Beckerman, Foreign Affairs, 10 May 2012

Verb

But at one point the two men rabbled about their athletic prowess, and even fought over who had a better golf handicap. —

Joey Garrison, USA TODAY, 28 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for rabble

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English rabel pack of animals

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1644, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of rabble was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Rabble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rabble. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

rabble

noun

rab·ble

ˈrab-əl

: a crowd that is noisy and hard to control : mob

: a group of people looked down upon as ignorant and hard to control

Last Updated: 15 Oct 2024 - Updated example sentences

Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the Day

obfuscate

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

rabble

noun

verb

Did you know?

Synonyms

Examples of rabble in a Sentence

Word History

Podcast

Dictionary Entries Near rabble

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition