horde

noun

ˈhȯrd 

1

a

: a political subdivision of central Asian nomads

b

: a people or tribe of nomadic life

2

: a large unorganized group of individuals : a teeming crowd or throng

hordes of peasants

Synonyms of horde

• swarm
• throng
• crowd
• flock
• mob

Choose the Right Synonym for horde

crowd, throng, horde, crush, mob mean an assembled multitude.

crowd implies a close gathering and pressing together.

a crowd gathered

throng and horde suggest movement and pushing.

a throng of reporters

a horde of shoppers

crush emphasizes the compactness of the group, the difficulty of individual movement, and the attendant discomfort.

a crush of fans

mob implies a disorderly crowd with the potential for violence.

an angry mob

Examples of horde in a Sentence

A horde of tourists entered the museum.

Hordes of reporters were shouting questions.

Recent Examples on the Web

This series focuses on She-Ra, the alter ego of Prince Adam’s twin sister, Princess Adora, who leads a rebellion against an evil intergalactic horde. —Sanat Pai Raikarall, Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 May 2026

Through the project, hordes of people were confronted with the biases of facial recognition technology for the first time. —Louis Bury, ARTnews.com, 1 May 2026

Based on a viral short film, the movie features Martin Freeman and Susie Porter as a couple who have commandeered a houseboat to evade hordes of rapacious undead. —K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 1 May 2026

Cutting off a guy’s finger and stitching a tiny bomb into someone’s chest is essentially the same as remembering how to put together a gun or outrunning a horde of bad guys. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle French, German, & Polish; Middle French & German, from Polish horda, from Ukrainian dialect gorda, alteration of Ukrainian orda, from Old Russian, from Turkic orda, ordu khan's residence

First Known Use

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for horde

• board
• bored
• chord
• cord
• corde
• cored
• fjord
• floored
• gored
• gourd
• hoard
• lord

Kids Definition

horde

noun

ˈhō(ə)rd 

ˈhȯ(ə)rd

1

: a wandering people or tribe

2

: a great multitude : throng, swarm

hordes of tourists