great unwashed

Attributed by many to Edmund Burke, the first published use of the phrase was by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in a dedicatory epistle for 1830, Paul Clifford.[1]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɡɹeɪt ʌnˈwɒʃt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɡɹeɪt ʌnˈwɔːʃt/, /ˌɡɹeɪt ʌnˈwɑːʃt/

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great unwashed pl (plural only)

1. (idiomatic, derogatory) The general populace, particularly the working class.
   • 1995, Christina Blizzard, Right Turn: How the Tories Took Ontario

     The Liberal campaign was so carefully orchestrated that McLeod was never in a position to be confronted by the great unwashed. Unfortunately, the great unwashed rarely vote for a leader whom they have never met.

• (the populace): hoi polloi, unwashed masses