proletariat
noun
-ē-ˌat\
Definition of proletariat
1 : the laboring class especially : the class of industrial workers who lack their own means of production and hence sell their labor to live
2 : the lowest social or economic class of a community
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Synonyms & Antonyms for proletariat
Synonyms
rabble, rabblement, ragtag and bobtail, riffraff, rout, scum, tag, rag, and bobtail (or tagrag and bobtail), trash, unwashed
Antonyms
A-list, aristocracy, elite, gentry, quality, society, upper class, upper crust
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Examples of proletariat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
More critically, the claim that our current crisis has economic roots does not rest on psychoanalyzing the Trumpen proletariat. — Eric Levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "America’s Version of Capitalism Is Incompatible With Democracy," 23 May 2018 Hernandez also wants to stir the proletariat to like him — finally — and not be angry with the Giants for keeping him around at the expense of prospect Steven Duggar, who might spend the entire summer in Sacramento honing his bat. — Henry Schulman, San Francisco Chronicle, "Giants’ Hernandez turning AT&T into Gorkys’ park," 7 June 2018 Unlike the universalist utopian visions of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the self-regulating market, the mixed economy requires endless tinkering and compromise. — Justin Fox, New York Times, "How Rampant Globalization Brought Us Trump," 18 May 2018 However, in a Marxist revolution, the proletariat will come together to overthrow the bourgeoisie and ultimately, win the class conflict by taking control over their work, or striking. — Danielle Corcione, Teen Vogue, "Who Is Karl Marx: Meet the Anti-Capitalist Scholar," 10 May 2018 What would the man who called for the violent overthrow of the capitalist system via a revolution of the proletariat have made of his life being remembered through useless tchotchkes? — Griff Witte, Washington Post, "The 5 most ridiculously capitalist souvenirs for sale at Karl Marx’s 200th birthday party," 5 May 2018 The fall from grace is embodied in capitalism; man is redeemed as the proletariat rises up against its exploiters and creates a communist utopia. — The Economist, "Rulers of the world: read Karl Marx!," 3 May 2018 Productive in so many ways, America has let Mr. Fraser down by failing to produce a true proletariat, one that would carry on the class struggle that is the true name of his desire. — Joseph Epstein, WSJ, "‘Class Matters’ Review: The American Dream as Nightmare," 22 Mar. 2018 Karl Marx famously argued that the enclosure of common agricultural lands for private grazing, shutting out and impoverishing the peasantry, created a supply of labor for industry in towns: the first proletariat. — Heather Souvaine Horn, The New Republic, "A System in Denial," 16 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'proletariat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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