What does "mob" mean?
A large or disorderly group of people; especially one bent on riotous or destructive action.
Mob
/mɒb/ adj, intj, name, noun, verb
adj, intj, name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A large or disorderly group of people; especially one bent on riotous or destructive action.
- Grammar: mob is listed as adj, intj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: crime syndicate, gang, a mass of, a world of.
- Useful contrasts: calm, disperse, estates.
- Usage evidence: The policeman was confronted by the angry mob.
How to use "mob"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mob" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mob" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mob" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mob" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mob" is acting as adj, intj, name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "crime syndicate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mob", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A large or disorderly group of people; especially one bent on riotous or destructive action.
"Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob."
- 2 A promiscuous woman; a harlot or wench; a prostitute. obsolete
- 3 Abbreviation of mobile phone. abbreviation, alt-of
- 4 Initialism of mother of the bride. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 5 a disorderly crowd of people wordnet
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 The lower classes of a community; the rabble. archaic
"A cluster of mob, who were making themselves merry with their betters."
- 7 A mob cap.
"c. 1773-1774, Oliver Goldsmith, letter to Mrs Bunbury cover their faces with mobs"
- 8 A creature or non-player character, especially one meant to be fought or killed.
"Instead of fighting the mobs myself someone led me around to "help" me level; […]"
- 9 an association of criminals wordnet
- 10 A group of animals such as horses or cattle. collective
- 11 A background character in general. Japanese
- 12 a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities wordnet
- 13 A group of kangaroos. collective
- 14 A group of emus. collective
- 15 A mafia: a group that engages in organized crime.
"The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face."
- 16 A group of Aboriginal people associated with an extended family group, clan group or wider community group, from a particular place or country.
"There’s nothing like local knowledge and after thousands of years living here the Noongar mob understand this land better than anyone, so it makes sense for them to tap into the lucrative tourism industry."
Verb
- 1 To crowd around (someone), sometimes with hostility. transitive
"The fans mobbed a well-dressed couple who resembled their idols."
- 2 To wrap up in, or cover with, a cowl. transitive
- 3 press tightly together or cram wordnet
- 4 To crowd into or around a place. transitive
"The shoppers mobbed the store on the first day of the sale."
Adjective
- 1 Initialism of mesio occlusal buccal. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, not-comparable
- 2 Initialism of missing on blog, the act of abandoning ones blog (or weblog) for an extended period of time. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, not-comparable
Intj
- 1 Initialism of man overboard, used e.g. on the emergency button of a satellite navigator. By pushing the button the operator stores the coordinates of a man overboard incident for easy access. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
Proper Noun
- 1 The Mafia: any particular mafia, mentioned uniquely within the discussion's established or implicit context, usually and especially the Sicilian–Italian–Italian-American one (especially in American English) but occasionally others (e.g., the Russian one, the Japanese one).
"The campfires provide enough plain old regular visible light to show this sorry affair for what it is: a bunch of demented Boy Scouts, a jamboree without merit badges or hygiene. With the IR supered on top of the visible, she can also see vague, spectral red faces out in the shadows where her unassisted eyes would only see darkness. These new Knight Visions cost her a big wad of her Mob drug-running money. Just the kind of thing Mom had in mind when she insisted Y.T. get a part-time job."
- 2 The masses, especially the 'great unwashed masses': the general population, or rabble, viewed as one mob of unruly, disorganized people predisposed to violence and malevolence.
"tempted to ascribe Poe's narrators' mentions of the Mob to misanthropy in the author himself"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The policeman was confronted by the angry mob."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mob"?
Common synonyms include: crime syndicate, gang, a mass of, a world of, age group, alliance.
How do you use "mob" in a sentence?
The policeman was confronted by the angry mob.
How do you pronounce "mob"?
Pronounced /mɒb/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English mob, short for mobile, from Latin mōbile (vulgus) (“fickle (crowd)”).
Etymology 2
Alteration of mab.
Etymology 3
Clipping of mobile. The video-gaming sense is sometimes reported as an abbreviation of mobile object, but this is a backronym.
Etymology 4
From the common noun sense, capitalized and used as a proper name.