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lumpen

adjective

ˈlu̇m-pən How to pronounce lumpen (audio)
Definition of lumpennext
as in low
belonging to the class of people of low social or economic rank a kind of music that has traditionally appealed to the lumpen segment of the musical audience

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lumpen But the earlier dolls were crude, lumpen things, a cross between a beanbag and a sculpted potato. — Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026 Yet Empire Falls translates into a lumpen, stodgy miniseries, despite a fine central performance from Harris as a divorced diner owner with deep roots in the town and a structure that allows the past to keep informing and enriching the present. — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2024 Then the judges booted her for wearing a lumpen quilt skirt accessorized with a blow-up-doll boyfriend. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 20 Apr. 2022 Tye Sheridan gives a somewhat lumpen performance as the author’s stand-in, an aspiring writer whose family background is funky, to say the least. — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Jan. 2022 The films of Sean Baker celebrate lumpen characters and communities that subsist within the cracks of America’s neoliberal landscape. — Erik Morse, Vogue, 10 Dec. 2021 Indeed, the miniatures — lumpen clay armchairs and occasional tables that Valle arranges and rearranges inside shoebox versions of their ultimate destinations — are closer to dollhouse furniture than to showpiece renderings. — New York Times, 9 Sep. 2021 Some collectors are leaning further into technology by amassing digital artworks, while other sets of buyers are coping by prizing ceramics, with their fragile, lumpen tactility. — Kelly Crow, WSJ, 6 July 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lumpen
  1. low
  2. proletarian
  3. unwashed
  4. plebeian
  5. lower-class
  6. low-life
  7. humble
  8. vulgar
Adjective
  • Each team's lone victory this season came in blowout fashion over West Georgia of the lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision.
    — Michael Harley, Arkansas Online, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The result was a masterclass in color and texture worn with a high-low attitude.
    — Minty Mellon, Vogue, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of low
Adjective
  • But West Virginia is a proletarian locale that until not long ago was a Democratic stronghold.
    — Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026
  • These ranged from the aristocratic elite who dominated the military and bureaucracy and yearned for a return to monarchy, to communists who sought proletarian rule, to the National Socialists who wanted to establish a right-wing dictatorship.
    — Time, Time, 23 Oct. 2025
Definition of proletarian
Adjective
  • Cutting into unwashed produce can transfer bacteria or residue from the skin’s surface into the flesh via the knife.
    — Bridget Shirvell, Martha Stewart, 13 Sep. 2026
  • Some brought their unwashed laundry to a protest in the capital in August 2026.
    — Ivis García, The Conversation, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of unwashed
Adjective
  • Linen and cotton, cooling garments, were too plebeian; the people posed nobly for street-style social-media accounts in leather jackets and low-slung jorts.
    — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 27 June 2026
  • This one is about a regular old guy, a hedge knight in the plebeian population of Westeros, just trying to get by in a world that isn't kind to the common and poor.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 13 Jan. 2026
Definition of plebeian
Adjective
  • But new research is shedding light on what life was like for middle- and lower-class residents.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 20 July 2026
  • The franchise centers around a dystopian nation called Panem, where rich and authoritarian leaders force twelve lower-class districts to submit two children to fight in a deadly, and televised, battle every year.
    — Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE, 11 July 2026
Definition of lower-class
Adjective
  • Bellow felt an affinity with Kennedy’s combination of low-life high jinks, human frailty, and virtuoso style.
    — Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026
  • The president can be assured that his low-life actions will eliminate him as a candidate to get to Heaven.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 25 Mar. 2026
Definition of low-life
Adjective
  • Ironically, the British school uniform has entirely humble origins.
    — Eva Wolchover, Vanity Fair, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Leather was made to feel more delicate, while other humble materials were guided by leather’s permanence and authority.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of humble
Adjective
  • Despite their pointy protrusions, the sculptures are not spiky enough to leave a mark; and despite their flirtations with touchy subject matter, none of the works—not even the 9/11 ones—are vulgar enough to get Wolfson in hot water.
    — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • But Trump’s obsession with these vulgar memorials to his own vanity is a reminder of the darkness around him, of his hostility to democracy, his loathing of honor, and his disordered mind.
    — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of vulgar

Browse Nearby Words

lumped (up)
lumpen
lumping
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Lumpen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lumpen. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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