1. the common people; the masses (especially when viewed with contempt)
Usage: formal; often derogatory
2. a group of unprincipled or disreputable people
Usage: formal

Examples

• The aristocrat dismissed the protesters as mere canailles.
• He refused to associate with what he called the local canailles.
• The revolution was led by the canailles against the ruling class.
• She looked down upon the canailles from her mansion window.
• The politician’s speech appealed to the canailles in the crowd.
• They were nothing but canailles seeking to profit from chaos.