silent majority

短语

沉默的大多数;[主美]普通百姓

词形变化

silent majorities 复数 silent majorities

释义与例句

n.
  1. 1.

    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.

    美国 政治

    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.

  2. 2.

    Those who are dead.

    古体 委婉

词源

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.

来源：wiktionary