people mountain people sea
crowded or jam-packed with people
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“The city center is people mountain people sea today.”
“We could hardly walk through the festival because it was people mountain people sea.”
“Upon arriving at the popular tourist destination, we found the plaza was people mountain people sea, leaving us no choice but to seek a quieter path.”
A direct calque of the Chinese idiom 人山人海 (rénshānrénhǎi). The expression entered English as a literal rendering of the individual characters for people, mountain, and sea to describe a vast multitude.
- 01
all things to all people
Someone or something that entirely satisfies the expectations of everyone, no matter how diverse and conflicting those expectations may be.
- 02
beautiful people
Fashionable, privileged, glamorous people, especially those belonging to international high society; the beau monde.
- 03
drop in the sea
A very small or insignificant amount; something of little importance.
- 04
go to sea
To become a sailor.
- 05
have a mountain to climb
To face a difficult task or challenge.
- 06
make a mountain out of a molehill
To treat a problem as greater than it is; to blow something out of proportion; to exaggerate the importance of something trivial.
- 07
man of the people
A man, usually a celebrity or political leader, who shows understanding of and sympathy for the concerns of ordinary people, and who has a rapport with and acceptance by them.
- 08
other fish in the sea
Other goals or objectives to pursue.
Last updated August 10, 2026