society // n [pl] (-ies) 1 [U] people in general, living together in communities: policies that will benefit society as a wohle * Racism exist at all levels of society. * They carried out research into the roles of men and women in today's society 2 [C,U] a particular community of people who share the some customs, laws, etc: modern industrial societies * demand created by a consumer society * Can Britain ever be a classless society? * They where discussing the problems of Western society. 3 [C] (abbr. Soc.) (especially in names) a group of people who join together for a particular purpose: a member of the drama society * the American Society of Newspaper Editors > see also building society, friendly society 4 [U] a group of people in a country who are fashionable, rich and powerful: Their daughter married into high society. * a society wedding 5 [U] (formal) the state of being with other people company: He was a solitary man who avoided the society of others.