CROWDS Synonyms: 160 Similar and Opposite Words

crowds 1 of 2

noun

plural of crowd

as in throngs

a great number of persons or creatures massed together a huge crowd of fans was on hand to greet the returning World Series champions

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in communities

a group of people sharing a common interest and relating together socially the fashionable crowd at the polo tournament

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in masses

the body of the community as contrasted with the elite no national leader was ever more hated by the crowd

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

crowds

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of crowd

as in stuffs

to fit (people or things) into a tight space crowded all the boats into the harbor before the storm struck

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as in flocks

to move upon or fill (something) in great numbers cars crowded the roads over the long holiday weekend

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in huddles

to gather into a closely packed group everyone crowded around to see the baby being shown off by his proud parents

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of crowds

Noun

Aside from Wednesday’s rain, crowds still came out to Geneva’s Swedish Days this year, Reamer said. — Linda Girardi, Chicago Tribune, 29 June 2026 As hotel rates drop and crowds at major attractions decline in the winter, United is making a bet that travelers will fill up the three-times-a-week service even without the ideal summer weather. — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 6 July 2026 Massive crowds came to visit his casket at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla mosque in Tehran, according to Iranian state media. — Brittney Melton, NPR, 6 July 2026 Travelers can arrive only 15 minutes before departure, skip the usual airport crowds with minimal security screening in a private, quiet terminal, and fly aboard a 30-seat semi-private jet with unlimited snacks and drinks. — Kaila Yu, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026 Fourth of July celebrations in Newport Beach, California, a coastal city in Orange County, led to over 400 arrests after large crowds became disorderly, according to police. — Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 7 July 2026 Whereas the sights and sounds of South End lean toward bar crowds and joggers traversing the Rail Trail, SouthPark is more about catching a whiff of Le Labo and seeing couples settle in at a corner table with glasses of Cabernet and small plates. — Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 29 June 2026 The incident occurred as crowds celebrated Mexico’s performance during the World Cup tournament following the team’s elimination Sunday night to England, losing 3-2. — Joseph Serna, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026 Iran’s semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) wrote about the 1989 funeral earlier this week, describing how the enormous crowds exceeded the numbers expected by authorities. — Xiaoqian Lin, CNN Money, 6 July 2026

Verb

Filming in front of real audiences, alongside real racers and real pit crews, the director crowds the screen with people. — Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 13 Dec. 2025 The presentation is muddied a bit by the strong bass and lack of stereo separation, which crowds the lower registers (something that’s not helped by the recording's acoustics). — Mark Knapp, PC Magazine, 1 Apr. 2026 Long takes emphasize the mental labor of Hujar’s self-exploration, and Sachs’s framing (with cinematography by Alex Ashe) crowds the pair together to evoke the intimacy of their talk. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for crowds

Noun

With their billowing sails, teakwood decks and mazes of ropes and rigging, ships like Eagle draw throngs of visitors hoping to get a glimpse of the past.

— Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 1 July 2026
The throngs of teenagers doing back flips into the Canal Saint-Martin and playing soccer in the street set the mood for the week.

— Julissa James, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026

Definition of throngs

Noun

Across the country, communities are hosting festivals, block parties, volunteer projects, exhibits and commemorative events as part of America250, the nationwide effort to mark the anniversary.

— Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 3 July 2026
Brockton is home to one of the largest Cape Verdean communities in the United States, with nearly one in four residents identifying as Cape Verdean, according to local outlet The Enterprise.

— Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026

Definition of communities

Noun

But that one course, Sugarloaf Golf Club, is also one of the few publics in the Northeast to have made Golf Digest’s Top 100, a Robert Trent Jones II classic with drop dead views on nearly every hole, carved from a gorgeous wilderness teeming with moose and other wildlife.

— Larry Olmsted, Forbes.com, 21 June 2026
Museums are sincerely trying to connect with their publics (even if these are often cast as consumers), and the horizon for that experiment is almost limitless.

— Katy Siegel, Artforum, 2 June 2026

Definition of publics

Verb

Throughout, visiting tourist Madeleine (Kristen Stewart) stuffs her face with every kind of meat, vegetable and carb while her father Phil (Woody Harrelson) is the one whose stomach miraculously swells.

— Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 17 May 2026
At home, Jonathan Wright, director of the Indianapolis art museum's park and gardens, stuffs in the plants, stacks the pots, and lets everything grow.

— Teresa Woodard, Midwest Living, 17 Apr. 2026

Definition of stuffs

Verb

An engineer overhears a sales call where a partner is requesting a specific feature and immediately huddles with the salesperson once the line clicks shut.

— Vikram Joshi, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
The boiler is broken, so Kuhner huddles by a small space heater in his office in the winter.

— Emma Green, New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2026

Definition of huddles

Noun

Their strategy focuses on low-cost drone swarms, maximizing pilot effectiveness.

— David Hambling, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Every wedding, every cherry blossom season in Japan, every birth, reactor accidents too, swarms of insects, kittens playing with woolen balls, people disfigured by war, palm trees at sunset—five billion photos a day.

— Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026

Definition of swarms

Noun

Since its inception, social media has been a proving ground for tween fashion and identity, offering under-16s a digital canvas to experiment with their style and form online cliques around niche interests.

— Sophie Lou Wilson, Vogue, 2 July 2026
Ramsey numbers for same-size red and blue cliques are called diagonal Ramsey numbers.

— Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 26 June 2026

Definition of cliques

Noun

In 2008, xenophobic riots left more than 60 dead — some burned alive by mobs — and tens of thousands displaced.

— Kate Bartlett, NPR, 25 June 2026
The New York Anti-Abolition Riots began as mobs attacked large swaths of New York City, targeting homes, churches and businesses of Black residents and known abolitionists.

— USA Today, USA Today, 24 June 2026

Definition of mobs

Browse Nearby Words

crowd-pleasing

crowds

crowed

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Style

“Crowds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crowds. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of crowds

noun

verb

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