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

Examples of horde in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web Amid the rabid fans and frenzied media coverage, in one scene, a horde of cameras and paparazzi envelop the car Beckham is driving in along with his wife and young family. —

Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 20 Sep. 2023 Despite a horde of sophomore and junior talent, there’s also senior leaders like Millsap and Taryn Barnes, who finished the game against Keller with 10 kills and a team-high four aces. —

Greg McKenna, Dallas News, 14 Sep. 2023 Moments later, the production is interrupted by a horde of locusts descending on the building. —

Elizabeth Nelson, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2023 While the pandemic saw tourism grind to a halt, as Vietnam opened its borders last year, visitors once again returned to Train Street in hordes, reigniting worries about their safety. —

Time, 21 Aug. 2023 Trains and buses deposit hordes of tourists in hotel lobbies. —

Iris Samuels, Anchorage Daily News, 16 July 2023 At the time of this announcement, hordes of people had been waiting in lines outside the venue for hours in the 90-degree heat, including many who had bought tickets in advance. —

Paige Hagy, Fortune, 6 Sep. 2023 An unlikely series of events had conspired to preserve this helpless horde of pollinators over millenniums. —

Sarah Derouin, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2023 Players will be able to team up with other squads to fight zombie hordes in the largest Call of Duty zombies map yet. —

Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 18 Aug. 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