Mass — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

noun verb adjective abbreviation /ˈmas/

Meaning & Definition of Mass

Mass (noun)

  1. the liturgy of the Eucharist especially in accordance with the traditional Latin rite
  2. a celebration of the Eucharist
  3. a musical setting for the ordinary of the Mass
  4. a quantity or aggregate of matter usually of considerable size
  5. expanse, bulk
  6. massive quality or effect

Mass (verb)

  1. to form or collect into a mass
  2. to assemble in a mass

Mass (adjective)

  1. of or relating to the mass of the people; also, being one of or at one with the mass, average
  2. participated in by or affecting a large number of individuals
  3. having a large-scale character

Mass (abbreviation)

  1. Massachusetts

Mass (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. the body of the community as contrasted with the elite

    "the masses demanded the elimination of tax breaks for the rich"

    similar: commoners, commons, crowd, herd, hoi polloi, millions, mob, multitude, people, plebeians, plebs, populace, public, rank and file
    related: cattle, proletariat, rabble, rabblement, ragtag and bobtail, riffraff, rout, scum, tag, rag, and bobtail, trash, unwashed, bourgeoisie, middle class
    opposite: A-list, aristocracy, best, choice, corps d'elite, cream, elect, elite, fat, flower, pick, pink, pride, upper crust
    near: gentility, gentlefolk, gentry, haute monde, nobility, patriciate, peerage, quality, royalty, society

  2. a considerable amount

    "I have a mass of work to do tonight"

    similar: abundance, barrel, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, lashings (chiefly British), loads, lot, mess, mountain, much, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack, passel, peck, pile, plateful, plenitude, plentitude, plenty, pot, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads, sheaf, shipload, sight, slew, spate, stack, store, ton, truckload, volume, wad, wealth, yard, all kinds (of), quite a bit
    related: epidemic, plague, rash, bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus, deluge, flood, overflow, army, bevy, cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mob, multitude, press, score, sea, swarm, throng, gazillion, jillion, kazillion, million, thousands, trillion, zillion
    opposite: ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch, pittance, scruple, shade, shadow, smidgen, speck, spot, sprinkle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, taste, touch, trace
    near: atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle, whit, smatter, smattering, dash, drop, morsel, shot, piece, portion, section, absence, dearth, famine, lack, paucity, poverty, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want, deficiency, deficit, inadequacy, insufficiency, meagerness, scantiness, scantness, skimpiness

  3. a distinct and separate portion of matter

    "a mass of leaves in a corner of the yard"

    similar: body
    related: aggregate, amount, bulk, quantity, quantum, volume, item, object, thing, material, stuff, substance, entirety, totality, whole

  4. the main or greater part of something as distinguished from its subordinate parts

    "when taking pictures, focus your attention on the mass of the main subject"

    similar: body, brunt, bulk, chief, core, generality, heft (archaic), main, staple, weight
    related: majority, aggregate, amount, entirety, quantum, sum, sum total, total, totality, whole, bottom, essence, essentiality, marrow, meat, nature, pith, quintessence, root, soul, stuff, substance, center, heart, hub, kernel, middle, nucleus, nut, seat, affair, argument, burden, crux, focus, gist, nub, pitch, point, purport, matter, motif, subject, text, theme, topic
    near: accessory, adjunct, appendage, extension, offshoot, component, constituent, element, ingredient, division, part, piece, section, segment, angle, aspect, facet, feature, quality, side

  5. the largest part or quantity of something

    "believes that the great mass of voters are in the political center and consider themselves neither conservative nor liberal"

    similar: bulk, generality, lion's share, majority, preponderance
    related: plurality, maximum, most, abundance, heap, loads, lot, much, oodles, plenty, profusion, reams, scads, wealth
    opposite: minority
    near: couple, few, handful, smattering, sprinkling, least, minimum

  6. a great number of persons or creatures massed together

    "a huge mass of people had gathered in the park to protest the government's latest policy"

    similar: army, bike (chiefly Scottish), cram, crowd, crush, drove, flock, herd, horde, host, legion, mob, multitude, press, rout, scrum, swarm, throng
    related: masses, millions, rabble, rabblement, riffraff, gaggle, heap, mountain, pile, jam, logjam

Mass (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. as in popular

    similar: popular, bilateral, consensual, reciprocal, symbiotic, synergic, synergistic, two-way, general, generic, universal, collaborative, collective, combined, common, communal, concerted, conjoint, conjunct, cooperative, joint, multiple, mutual, pooled, public, shared, united
    opposite: exclusive, individual, one-man, one-sided, one-way, single, sole, solitary, unilateral, personal, private, independent, separate, several, esoteric, particular, special, specialized

Mass (verb) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. to gradually form into a layer, pile, or mass

    "clouds massing on the western side of the mountain range"

    similar: accrete, accumulate, amass, build up, collect, concentrate, conglomerate, gather, pile (up), stack (up)
    related: agglutinate, clump, lump, bank, drift, ridge
    near: disperse, dissipate, scatter

Related Entry: Mass-market (adjective)

Mass-market is a different word from Mass. The synonyms below are for mass-market, not for mass.

  1. fit or likely to be sold especially on a large scale

    "the kind of mass-market candy bars that connoisseurs of chocolate love to disdain"

    similar: commercial, corporate, marketable, salable
    related: mass-produced, wholesale
    opposite: noncommercial, nonsalable, uncommercial, unmarketable, unsalable

Related Entry: Mass-produced (adjective)

Mass-produced is a different word from Mass. The synonyms below are for mass-produced, not for mass.

  1. made beforehand in large numbers

    "a cheap mass-produced plastic toy"

    similar: bought, off-the-peg (chiefly British), off-the-rack, off-the-shelf, ready-made, store, store-bought
    related: ready-to-wear, commercial, prefab, prefabricated, hand-me-down
    opposite: bespoke, custom, customized, custom-made, tailored, tailor-made
    near: handcrafted, handmade, homemade

Related Entry: Mass noun (noun)

Mass noun is a different word from Mass. The synonyms below are for mass noun, not for mass.

  1. as in count noun, common noun

    similar: collective noun, common noun, count noun, proper noun, nominal, noun, substantive

Related Entry: Mass nouns (noun)

Mass nouns is a different word from Mass. The synonyms below are for mass nouns, not for mass.

  1. as in count nouns, common nouns

    similar: collective noun, common nouns, count nouns, proper nouns, nominals, nouns, substantives

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Mass

The most common words with a similar meaning to Mass:

Chiefly British: lashings
Archaic: heft
Chiefly Scottish: bike
commoners, commons, crowd, herd, hoi polloi, millions, mob, multitude, people, plebeians, plebs, populace, public, rank and file, abundance, barrel, basketful, boatload, bucket, bunch, bundle, bushel, carload, chunk, deal, dozen, fistful, gobs, good deal, heap, hundred, loads, lot, mess, mountain, much, multiplicity, myriad, oodles, pack

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Mass

Words with the opposite meaning of Mass:

A-list, aristocracy, best, choice, corps d'elite, cream, elect, elite, fat, flower, pick, pink, pride, upper crust, ace, bit, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, handful, hint, lick, little, mite, mouthful, nip, ounce, peanuts, pinch

Related Words for Mass

cattle, proletariat, rabble, rabblement, ragtag and bobtail, riffraff, scum, tag, rag, and bobtail, trash, unwashed, bourgeoisie, middle class, epidemic, plague, rash, bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, plethora, redundancy, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus, deluge

Near Antonyms of Mass

gentility, gentlefolk, gentry, haute monde, nobility, patriciate, peerage, quality, royalty, society, atom, crumb, dot, fleck, flyspeck, fragment, grain, granule, iota, jot, modicum, molecule, mote, nubbin, particle, ray, scintilla, scrap, shred, tittle

Word Forms of Mass

Inflections: massed, massing, masses

Origin & Etymology of Mass

Middle English, from Old English mæsse, modification of Vulgar Latin *messa, literally, dismissal at the end of a religious service, from Late Latin missa, from Latin, feminine of missus, past participle of mittere to send

First known use: before 12th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Mass

Words & Phrases Containing Mass

mass card, mass driver, mass extinction, mass-market, mass media

Frequently Asked Questions about Mass

What does "Mass" mean?

"Mass" means the liturgy of the Eucharist especially in accordance with the traditional Latin rite. As an a noun, a verb, an adjective and an abbreviation, it is defined as: the liturgy of the Eucharist especially in accordance with the traditional Latin rite. It has 8 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Mass"?

Other words for "Mass" include commoners, commons, crowd, herd, hoi polloi, millions, mob and multitude. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Mass" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Mass"?

There are 237 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Mass". Common alternatives include commoners, commons, crowd, herd, hoi polloi, millions, mob, multitude, people and plebeians.

What is the opposite of "Mass"?

Antonyms of "Mass" include A-list, aristocracy, best, choice, corps d'elite, cream, elect and elite. Near antonyms include gentility, gentlefolk, gentry and haute monde.

How do you use "Mass" in a sentence?

Examples of "Mass" in a sentence: "the masses demanded the elimination of tax breaks for the rich"; "I have a mass of work to do tonight"; "a mass of leaves in a corner of the yard".

Is "Mass" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Mass" can be used as a noun, a verb, an adjective and an abbreviation, depending on the context.

Is "Mass" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As a B2-level word, "Mass" is typical of Cambridge B2 First (FCE), IELTS band 5.5–6.5, TOEFL iBT 72–94, PTE Academic 59–75, TOEIC Listening & Reading 785+.

How do you pronounce "Mass"?

"Mass" is pronounced /ˈmas/.