townspeople

plural noun

towns·​peo·​ple ˈtau̇nz-ˌpē-pəl How to pronounce townspeople (audio)
1
: the inhabitants of a town or city : townsmen
2
: town-dwelling or town-bred persons

Examples of townspeople in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There’s the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony, to which townspeople are summoned with the bell that used to call mill hands to work. Jillian Atelsek, Washington Post, 14 Feb. 2024 In one game, carts of live pigs were thrown from the top of the hill, leaving the townspeople below clamoring to catch the meat. Elizabeth Djinis, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Feb. 2024 The Ally comes on the heels of Moses’s The Band’s Visit, a 10-time Tony-winning musical starring Tony Shalhoub and Katrina Lenk about an Egyptian military band that accidentally winds up at a desert town and forges unexpected connections with the townspeople. Rhoda Feng, Vogue, 23 Feb. 2024 When the townspeople get ahold of the roving prisoners, their grief and anger turn into a violent, unrelenting massacre, with military escorts using the chaos to execute American prisoners at will. Hunter Ingram, Variety, 23 Feb. 2024 In Crawford’s taut performance, Bobby is torn between commitment to his family and to the townspeople, and increasingly at odds with both once Grace sides with her mother. Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Sep. 2023 With recovery efforts underway, many residents of Marrakech slept outdoors overnight, while other townspeople wandered aimlessly through streets littered with debris. Josh Feldman, NBC News, 10 Sep. 2023 Boin first came to Spello because of a letter Constantine wrote to the townspeople during his reign. Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Jan. 2024 But her isolated existence comes crashing down with the arrival of alien invaders with psychic powers and a host of parasites who take over the minds of the nearby townspeople. Richard Newby, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'townspeople.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1587, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of townspeople was in 1587

Dictionary Entries Near townspeople

Cite this Entry

“Townspeople.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/townspeople. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

townspeople

noun plural
towns·​peo·​ple ˈtau̇nz-ˌpē-pəl How to pronounce townspeople (audio)
: the people who live in a town or city

More from Merriam-Webster on townspeople

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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