silent majority
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.33 in modern English
26
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
6
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The largest portion of a demographic group or of the population of a political jurisdiction, which is considered to possess political and social views that are not openly declared, but that can nevertheless significantly affect voting patterns and social behavior.
American usage
Example Sentences
- "Nixon took the field against his critics in his Nov. 3 plea to "the silent majority'" for backing of his Viet Nam policy."
- "As for leadership, she applauds New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, whose stern law and order policies have won over the "black silent majority," she says."
- "He has argued, however, that the demonstrations do not represent the silent majority of Japanese (presumably including those in the heartland) who are too anxious about the economy to give up on nuclear energy."
- "Prior to 1968, the right had taken the view that ‘ordinary people’ were still inherently conservative, which you can see echoed today in the ‘silent majority’ rhetoric of modern establishment conservatives."
- "President Trump believes he represents the “silent majority” of the country against a dangerous, radical minority. He says as much on Twitter, frequently yelling “SILENT MAJORITY” at his followers."
- "Each man in the long line knows that if an advance is made some of them will not see the sun set, and he cannot shake off the feeling that perhaps his turn has come to join the silent majority."
Etymology
Popularized in contemporary usage by U.S. President Richard Nixon in a speech on November 3, 1969. The older sense for "the dead" was used in English since the 19th century, and further back in Latin by the Roman writer Petronius, who wrote abiit ad plures (“he has gone to the majority”) to describe the dead.