ple·be·ian

(plĭ-bē′ən)

adj.

1. Of or relating to the common people of ancient Rome: a plebeian magistrate.

2. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of commoners.

3. Unrefined or coarse in nature or manner; common or vulgar: plebeian tastes.

1. One of the common people of ancient Rome.

2. A member of the lower classes.

3. A vulgar or coarse person.

[From Latin plēbius, from plēbs, plēb-, the common people; see pelə- in Indo-European roots.]

ple·be′ian·ism n.

ple·be′ian·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

plebeianism

the quality of having common manners, character, or style. — plebeian, n., adj.

See also: Behavior

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

His egotism was never flagrant or tiresome--he was never crude in it, for crudeness was a plebeianism that the Hon.

View in context

It was a fair parallel between new Plebeianism and old Gentility.

View in context

(5 ) Of course, the narrator partly qualifies Hepzibah's extreme view by commenting that Phoebe has "many ladylike attributes" together with plebeian ones (House 80); yet the narrator does recognize Phoebe's "gift of practical arrangement" as her "exclusive patrimony" (House 71) and contrasts two Pyncheons, Hepzibah and Phoebe, in terms of social rank: "It was a fair parallel between new Plebeianism and old Gentility!" (House 81).

"Phoebe is no Pyncheon": class, gender, and nation in The House of the Seven Gables

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