horde

noun

1
a
: a political subdivision of central Asian nomads
b
: a people or tribe of nomadic life
2
: 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

Examples of horde in a Sentence

A horde of tourists entered the museum. Hordes of reporters were shouting questions.
Recent Examples on the Web One of the most enjoyable parts of the festival was also witnessing the way attendees were dressed — Nicki stans were easily identifiable, traveling around in hordes of hot and neon pink. Thania Garcia, Variety, 16 Mar. 2024 Behind the virality or streaming numbers or follower counts, there are always hordes of irrepressible young people looking for a late-night thrill. Hattie Lindert, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2024 An adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s graphic novels, the series set new standards for graphic violence on cable TV with hordes of flesh-munching zombies and vicious thugs. Greg Braxton, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024 Can a sweater or a dress declare that America—or at least Americana—can be kind of great, without risking association with the rabid MAGA hordes? Mattie Kahn, Vogue, 6 Mar. 2024 Massive hordes of autonomous weapons could be deployed to target and kill thousands at a time, making today’s smart bombs seem clumsy by comparison. Paul Scharre, Foreign Affairs, 29 Feb. 2024 In the course of dissecting the fundamental nature of quantum fate, the physicists involved have discovered previously unknown quantum phenomena that threaten the stability of great hordes of particles. Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 26 Feb. 2024 For all the dragon attacks and ice zombie hordes, would anyone have cared about Game of Thrones if they weren’t already invested in Arya Stark, Tyrion Lannister, and so many other vivid figures Benioff and Weiss were gifted by George R.R. Martin? Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2024 Besides the size of their massive hordes of wealth, Musk and Bezos also compete in a 21st century space race via their respective rocketship companies SpaceX and Blue Origin, and Musk’s position in that one is looking unsteady as well. Melvin Backman, Quartz, 6 Mar. 2024

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

Dictionary Entries Near horde

Cite this Entry

“Horde.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horde. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

horde

noun
ˈhō(ə)rd How to pronounce horde (audio)
ˈhȯ(ə)rd
1
: a wandering people or tribe
2
: a great multitude : throng, swarm
hordes of tourists

More from Merriam-Webster on horde

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