People

Synonyms for people
noun human beings

crowd
family
community
nation
society
public
folk
population
tribe
proletariat
nationality

horde
populace
masses
humankind
folks
rabble
humanity
multitude
herd
kin
mob

bourgeois
clan
commonality
riffraff
race
body politic
common people
hoi polloi
rank and file
humans
plebeians

heads
inhabitants
cats
persons
mortals
citizens
bodies
John/Jane Q. Public
general public
human race
person in the street

Antonyms for people

animals

plants

Usage Notes

People is usually followed by a plural verb and referred to by a plural pronoun: People are always looking for a bargain. The people have made their choice. The possessive is formed regularly, with the apostrophe before the -s: people’s desire for a bargain; the people’s choice. When people means “the entire body of persons who constitute a community or other group by virtue of a common culture, history, etc.,” it is used as a singular, with the plural peoples: This people shares characteristics with certain inhabitants of central Asia. The aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere speak many different languages. The formation of the possessive is regular; the singular is people’s and the plural is peoples’. At one time, some usage guides maintained that people could not be preceded by a number, as in Fewer than 30 people showed up. This use is now unquestionably standard in all contexts.