noun
the masses; the common people; the crowd
A somewhat literary or formal term for ordinary people collectively, often with a nuance of the unenlightened or vulgar crowd. Not an everyday word for 'people'.
彼の思想は俗衆には理解されなかった。
His ideas were not understood by the masses.
俗衆の意見に流されず、自分の道を進むべきだ。
You should follow your own path without being swayed by the opinion of the crowd.
Compound of 俗 (vulgar, worldly) and 衆 (multitude, masses). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word has been used in literary and philosophical contexts to refer to the common, unenlightened people.