Dictionary

pleb en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /plɛb/
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

A clipping of plebeian and plebe, sometimes also understood as a back-formation from plebs.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Of or concerning the lower class of a society.
2. (derogatory, not-comparable) Undistinguished, commonplace, unsophisticated, vulgar, coarse.

pleb en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /plɛb/
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

A clipping of plebeian and plebe, sometimes also understood as a back-formation from plebs.

Meanings

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.
   • At Annapolis, the natives are crabs, the freshmen plebs, the sophomores youngsters. 1922, Dialect Notes, number 5, American Dialect Society, page 189:
   • 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:

Forms

Antonyms

toff · posho

Deriveds

Plebbit · Plebgate · plebby

Relateds

plebe · plebeian · plebs

Synonyms

plebe · prole · plebeian

Translations (19)

de Prolet (common person) · hy պլեբեյ (common person) · pt zé (common person) · uk просто́лю́дин (common person) · pt ralé (common person) · uk простолю́ддя (common person) · fa عامی (common person) · pt plebe (common person) · es plebeyo (common person) · pt gentalha (common person) · fi silakka (freshman cadet (derogatory)) · th ไพร่ (common person) · uk просто́люд (common person) · fi juntti (rube, unsophisticated person) · es mandado (common person) · hy ռամիկ (common person) · ru бы́дло (common person) · fi prole (common person) · fi rahvas (common person)