Make Your Point > Archived Issues > RABBLE
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
pronounce
RABBLE:
Say it "RAB ull."
(It rhymes with "babble.")
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
From South Park, a rabble:
As you can see, a rabble is often t__ming: swarming around, like a cloud of gnats. Ew.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
Our word "rabble" might trace back to a Middle English one, rablen, meaning "to talk in a fast, confused way." Rablen was probably onomatopoetic: that is, created by imitating the sound it describes.
Today, we most often use the word "rabble" to mean "a loud, low-class, disorderly, animalistic swarm of people."
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Noun, the countable kind: "a rabble of angry customers."
Other forms:
The plural is "rabbles."
"Rabble" is a verb, too, but we hardly ever use it. We do sometimes talk about "rabblers" (people in a rabble) or refer to things as "rabbling."
If you're stirring up a crowd of loud, angry people to get them even louder and angrier, then you're a "rabble-rouser," guilty of "rabble-rousing."
Some of the rare noun forms include "rabblement" and "rabbleocracy."
how to use it:
"Rabble" is a formal, semi-common word, with a harsh, insulting tone. It can sound very snobby, implying that people are stupid, greedy, violent, animalistic, and easy to manipulate.
So, if you're pretty sure you're a safe distance from their torches and pitchforks, refer to people as a rabble, or a rabble of some type of people: "this rabble of freshmen," "a rabble of hungry patrons who weren't expecting a wait."
Get figurative, if you like: "I need to quell the rabble of junk in this drawer."
examples:
"As the cream of the crop, they preferred rules that ensured that they would stay at the top and keep the rabble in their place."
— Alex Knappe, Forbes, 14 November 2011
"Maybe all hospitals should import groups of rabble-rousing punk rockers to kick-start the languishing patients' hearts."
— Gayle Forman, If I Stay, 2009
has this page helped you understand "rabble"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "rabble" without saying "hoi polloi" or "a mob."
try it out:
If you love peace, quiet, solitude, and clean cozy spaces, like Bilbo does in The Hobbit, then when the thirteen dwarves bust into his house, laughing and singing, making a mess, helping themselves to his pantry, and demanding that he join them on a reckless adventure, you'll call them a rabble.
But if you love those dwarves, you won't call them a rabble. Maybe you'll call them a merriment of dwarves. Or a knot, or a beard. (More creative options can be found here--thanks, Reddit!)
What's another example, from fiction or real life, of a rabble? Who might call them a rabble? Who wouldn't? Why?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for April is "Netflix and Anagram."
Check out the anagrammed title of a series or movie you can watch on Netflix, along with a descriptive sentence or two about it from Google. See if you can come up with the real title. To see the answer, scroll all the way down.
Here's an example. IF CRUEL: "After abandoning his throne and retiring to Los Angeles, he indulges in his favorite things (women, wine and song) -- until a murder takes place outside of his upscale nightclub." The answer is LUCIFER.
Try this last one today:
CURATOR BE HAZY: "The only way to see Carla again is to become a patient at the psychiatric centre where she resides."
review this word:
1.
A near opposite of RABBLE is
A. THE ELITE.
B. THE MASSES.
C. THE LEADER.
2.
In a text, you'll likely find the word "rabble" alongside words like _____
A. "stomping" and "hooting."
B. "sensing" and "meditating."
C. "billowing" and "alighting."
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Say it "RAB ull."
From South Park, a rabble:
Our word "rabble" might trace back to a Middle English one, rablen, meaning "to talk in a fast, confused way." Rablen was probably onomatopoetic: that is, created by imitating the sound it describes.
Part of speech:
"Rabble" is a formal, semi-common word, with a harsh, insulting tone. It can sound very snobby, implying that people are stupid, greedy, violent, animalistic, and easy to manipulate.
"As the cream of the crop, they preferred rules that ensured that they would stay at the top and keep the rabble in their place."
Explain the meaning of "rabble" without saying "hoi polloi" or "a mob."
If you love peace, quiet, solitude, and clean cozy spaces, like Bilbo does in The Hobbit, then when the thirteen dwarves bust into his house, laughing and singing, making a mess, helping themselves to his pantry, and demanding that he join them on a reckless adventure, you'll call them a rabble.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
1.
A near opposite of RABBLE is
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
|