the great unwashed vs group

the great unwashed and group both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
the great unwashed	Yes	No	No	No
group	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, group is a hypernym of the great unwashed; that is, group is a word with a broader meaning than the great unwashed:

Other hypernyms of the great unwashed include grouping.

the great unwashed (noun)	group (noun)
the common people generally	any number of entities (members) considered as a unit
	a set that is closed, associative, has an identity element and every element has an inverse
	(chemistry) two or more atoms bound together as a single unit and forming part of a molecule

the great unwashed (verb)	group (verb)
	arrange into a group or groups
	form a group or group together