varletry

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a disorderly crowd of common people, viewed with contempt

   The nobleman dismissed the protesters as mere varletry.

From varlet, formerly a servant or attendant and later a rogue, plus the collective suffix -ry. Varlet entered English through Old French valet or varlet; varletry developed as a contemptuous collective term for low-status people or a rabble.

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