n. 1
A large or disorderly group of people; especially one bent on riotous or destructive action.
See also: Mob (the masses)
n. 2
A group of animals of any kind.
n. 3
A group of animals of any kind. A group of kangaroos.
v. 1
To crowd around (someone), sometimes with hostility.
The fans mobbed a well-dressed couple who resembled their idols.

Related words

Word family: mobbish moblike mobocracy mobster
Phrases: mob rule mob football mob law mob mentality mob programming

Forms

Plural: mobs → rabbles, routs, herds, populaces…
Past participle: mobbed
e.g. mobbed → thronged, jammed, piled…

Choose the right word

Mob, Populace or Rabble?

The populace are poor and ignorant, but may be law-abiding; a mob is disorderly and lawless, but may be rich and influential. The rabble is despicable, worthless, purposeless; a mob may have effective desperate purpose.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

herd The adolescent giraffe was banished from the herd.
populace The populace was in thrall to the dictator's whims.
rabble Tom called the striking workers a rabble.
crowd The crowd protested against racial discrimination.
enemy He betrayed us by telling the enemy where we were.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
mob		rising
herd		falling
populace		steady
rabble		rising
canaille		steady
crowd		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: jam¹, pac¹
4 letters: many², cell¹, ring¹, pack¹, crew¹, gang¹, pile¹, herd¹, rout¹
5 letters: crowd¹, enemy³, mafia³
6 letters: family³, mobile², masses², rabble², throng¹
8 letters: populace³, canaille
9 letters: multitude³, syndicate³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (many² = 2 syllables).