horde

noun

ˈhȯrd

Synonyms of horde next

: a political subdivision of central Asian nomads

: a people or tribe of nomadic life

: a large unorganized group of individuals : a teeming crowd or throng

hordes of peasants

Choose the Right Synonym for horde

crowd, throng, horde, crush, mob mean an assembled multitude.

crowd implies a close gathering and pressing together.

a crowd gathered

throng and horde suggest movement and pushing.

a throng of reporters

a horde of shoppers

crush emphasizes the compactness of the group, the difficulty of individual movement, and the attendant discomfort.

a crush of fans

mob implies a disorderly crowd with the potential for violence.

an angry mob

Example Sentences

A horde of tourists entered the museum. Hordes of reporters were shouting questions.

Recent Examples on the Web On the day of his court appearance in Manhattan, though, the scene outside was a surreal spectacle, with a horde of journalists joined by Trump supporters, protesters and curious observers. —

David Ovalle, Carol D. Leonnig, Shayna Jacobs and Mark Berman, The Washington Post, Anchorage Daily News, 10 June 2023 Musk fired hordes of middle managers at Twitter after his $44 billion takeover last October. —

Bysheryl Estrada, Fortune, 12 June 2023 Given the impact of her debut feature Promising Young Woman (one Oscar win from five nominations, among a horde of other awards), Fennell’s sophomore effort would be a star attraction on the Lido. —

Alex Ritman, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 June 2023 On Wednesday, a heavy-duty police truck, flanked by hordes of riot police, descended upon a house in Atlanta to conduct an arrest raid. —

Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 31 May 2023 Sam Farber founded the company in the ’90s to help make cooking more accessible to his wife, who had arthritis, and since, it’s amassed a somewhat cult-like following, as evidenced by hordes of recommendations on Reddit threads and articles about the company’s wholesome history. —

Tom Price, Popular Mechanics, 17 May 2023 Per usual, hordes of Bears fans are expected to make their presence felt in Kansas City, Mo., on the third weekend of the season. —

Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2023 The Medium Loser: Wilmington, Delaware The town, population 70,000, was all geared up for a six-week trial that would have brought in hordes of journalists to patronize its hotels, bars and restaurants. —

Allison Morrow, CNN, 19 Apr. 2023 Right now, hordes of people in the Northern Hemisphere are in a similarly crummy situation. —

Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 18 Feb. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'horde.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle French, German, & Polish; Middle French & German, from Polish horda, from Ukrainian dialect gorda, alteration of Ukrainian orda, from Old Russian, from Turkic orda, ordu khan's residence

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler

The first known use of horde was in 1555

See more words from the same year