horde

noun

ˈhȯrd How to pronounce horde (audio)
Synonyms of horde
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

Synonyms of horde

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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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In July, a horde of OpenAI agents broke out of their sandboxes and worked together to launch a cyberattack on the AI company Hugging Face. — Harry Booth, Time, 20 Oct. 2026 The report describes aggressive tactics in which hordes of solicitors sit on the phones all day, calling people to get them to refinance. — Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2026 Paris ransacked, looted, and set ablaze by hordes of rioters. — Ollivier Pourriol, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026 And, of course, anyone who remembers the optimistic hordes streaming up Michigan Avenue after Barack Obama made his victory speech for president of the United States in Grant Park well knows the local benefits of a Chicagoan assuming the presidency. — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 18 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for horde

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

Rhymes for horde

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Browse Nearby Words

horchata
horde
hordenine
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Cite this Entry

“Horde.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horde. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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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
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