1. spectators who stood in the pit of Elizabethan theaters, especially those who paid the lowest admission price
Usage: historical; theater
2. people of unsophisticated or common taste, especially in matters of art or culture
Usage: sometimes derogatory

Examples

• The groundlings cheered loudly during the sword fight scene.
• Shakespeare wrote plays that appealed to both nobles and groundlings.
• The theater’s pit was packed with groundlings who couldn’t afford better seats.
• Critics worried that the film was designed only for the groundlings.
• The Globe Theatre reconstruction shows where the groundlings once stood.
• Some playwrights looked down on writing for the groundlings.