: a class occupying a position between the upper class and the lower class
especially
: a fluid heterogeneous socioeconomic grouping composed principally of business and professional people, bureaucrats, and some farmers and skilled workers sharing common social characteristics and values
Examples of middle-class in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Nick Fouriezos, USA TODAY, 27 Apr. 2024
Like Woods’s weaseling, hustling protagonist Richard Boyle, Stone reveals his ambivalence — feeling moral disgust about other people’s politics, plus middle-class American guilt about his own helplessness.
—Armond White, National Review, 26 Apr. 2024
According to a Pew Research Study, the percent of adults who live in a middle-class household shrank from 61% in 1971 to 50% in 2021.
—Hannah Pinski, The Courier-Journal, 25 Apr. 2024
Eventually, the Shoe Lane community expanded from mostly a community of farmers and laborers to a growing middle-class community including dentists, teachers and a NASA engineer in 1960.
—Logan Jaffe, ProPublica, 23 Apr. 2024
Independent Lens: Sam Now (PBS) A boy helps his half-brother search for his missing mother in this coming-of-age documentary about generational trauma, following Sam Harkness from age 11 to 36 as his middle-class Seattle family is heartbroken and bewildered after his mother suddenly leaves them.
—Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Apr. 2024
Additionally, the remnants of bourgeois — or middle-class — abodes dating to the 18th or 19th centuries were unearthed at the site.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2024
Though tea remains foundational to Chinese culture, some young, middle-class consumers are finding coffee’s caffeine kick to be more suited to the pressures of a competitive job market and workplace.
—Jennifer Jett, NBC News, 20 Apr. 2024
The Connecticut court found that the main cause of school segregation was the drawing of school districts along town boundaries, which spurred middle-class families, mostly white, to move to suburbia, while leaving poor minority families behind in the city.
—Trip Gabriel, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Himanshu Gupta, TIME, 23 Apr. 2024
China’s rapid growth over the preceding decades had instilled confidence that an expanding middle class would continue to flex its newfound wealth with lavish spending.
—Claire Fu, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
Still, Tmall has lured some labels to participate with promises to divert more traffic their way — hard to resist as the middle class’s appetite for luxury is declining, Roizen added.
—Bloomberg, Fortune Asia, 17 Apr. 2024
Indeed, the state income tax rate for the middle class now staggers at 10.4%, higher than for billionaires 20 years ago.
—John Seiler, Orange County Register, 16 Apr. 2024
That has brought an unfamiliar feeling of uncertainty to a massive middle class accustomed to continuous gains — and raised questions about the social contract that has long kept the Chinese Communist Party in power.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 11 Apr. 2024
After the Great Depression and World War II, middle class families and businesses left Oak Park, ushering in a new community of African American residents, according to the district plan.
—Hanh Truong, Sacramento Bee, 6 Apr. 2024
The majority of marketplace users are middle class, a group highly exposed to the country’s ongoing economic slowdown.
—Bloomberg, Fortune Asia, 17 Apr. 2024
Three years after the military seized power in a coup, the economic situation in the country has rapidly deteriorated to a point where the middle class is at risk of being wiped out and families are forced to cut back on food, health and education due to soaring inflation, the report found.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024
Adjective
In fact, across rural America, half of adults now have a job that pays at least middle-class wages, according to a recent Georgetown University report.
—Nick Fouriezos, USA TODAY, 27 Apr. 2024
Like Woods’s weaseling, hustling protagonist Richard Boyle, Stone reveals his ambivalence — feeling moral disgust about other people’s politics, plus middle-class American guilt about his own helplessness.
—Armond White, National Review, 26 Apr. 2024
According to a Pew Research Study, the percent of adults who live in a middle-class household shrank from 61% in 1971 to 50% in 2021.
—Hannah Pinski, The Courier-Journal, 25 Apr. 2024
Eventually, the Shoe Lane community expanded from mostly a community of farmers and laborers to a growing middle-class community including dentists, teachers and a NASA engineer in 1960.
—Logan Jaffe, ProPublica, 23 Apr. 2024
Independent Lens: Sam Now (PBS) A boy helps his half-brother search for his missing mother in this coming-of-age documentary about generational trauma, following Sam Harkness from age 11 to 36 as his middle-class Seattle family is heartbroken and bewildered after his mother suddenly leaves them.
—Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Apr. 2024
Additionally, the remnants of bourgeois — or middle-class — abodes dating to the 18th or 19th centuries were unearthed at the site.
—Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 23 Apr. 2024
Though tea remains foundational to Chinese culture, some young, middle-class consumers are finding coffee’s caffeine kick to be more suited to the pressures of a competitive job market and workplace.
—Jennifer Jett, NBC News, 20 Apr. 2024
The Connecticut court found that the main cause of school segregation was the drawing of school districts along town boundaries, which spurred middle-class families, mostly white, to move to suburbia, while leaving poor minority families behind in the city.
—Trip Gabriel, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Noun
These labor displacements accumulate over time, impacting mostly the lower and middle classes and, in turn, becoming political movements.
—Himanshu Gupta, TIME, 23 Apr. 2024
China’s rapid growth over the preceding decades had instilled confidence that an expanding middle class would continue to flex its newfound wealth with lavish spending.
—Claire Fu, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
Still, Tmall has lured some labels to participate with promises to divert more traffic their way — hard to resist as the middle class’s appetite for luxury is declining, Roizen added.
—Bloomberg, Fortune Asia, 17 Apr. 2024
Indeed, the state income tax rate for the middle class now staggers at 10.4%, higher than for billionaires 20 years ago.
—John Seiler, Orange County Register, 16 Apr. 2024
That has brought an unfamiliar feeling of uncertainty to a massive middle class accustomed to continuous gains — and raised questions about the social contract that has long kept the Chinese Communist Party in power.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 11 Apr. 2024
After the Great Depression and World War II, middle class families and businesses left Oak Park, ushering in a new community of African American residents, according to the district plan.
—Hanh Truong, Sacramento Bee, 6 Apr. 2024
The majority of marketplace users are middle class, a group highly exposed to the country’s ongoing economic slowdown.
—Bloomberg, Fortune Asia, 17 Apr. 2024
Three years after the military seized power in a coup, the economic situation in the country has rapidly deteriorated to a point where the middle class is at risk of being wiped out and families are forced to cut back on food, health and education due to soaring inflation, the report found.
—Helen Regan, CNN, 12 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'middle-class.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near middle-class
Cite this Entry
“Middle-class.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/middle-class. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
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