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
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Recent Examples of lumpen
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
Rhys spent decades, often isolated and paranoid, in lumpen houses and apartments in and out of London, before success arrived late.
—New York Times, 20 June 2022
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
Other labels are riffing on the shoe’s lumpen shape, and playing with proportion and puff.
—Lauren Mechling, Vogue, 30 Mar. 2021
Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2024
Rhys spent decades, often isolated and paranoid, in lumpen houses and apartments in and out of London, before success arrived late.
—New York Times, 20 June 2022
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
Other labels are riffing on the shoe’s lumpen shape, and playing with proportion and puff.
—Lauren Mechling, Vogue, 30 Mar. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lumpen
Adjective
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The company attributed that to a decrease in full-price wholesale and lower e-commerce sales.—
Jean E. Palmieri,
Footwear News,
8 Aug. 2025
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The sheriff’s office said it was tipped off that Hendon was selling new appliances via social media for unusually low prices.—
Clifford Ward,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Picking up forks by their prongs with your fingers, especially if unwashed, can just cause the build up of germs and bacteria, negating some of the work your dishwasher just accomplished.—
Lauren Wicks,
Southern Living,
9 July 2025
-
Water, shellfish and unwashed fruits and vegetables can also harbor infectious parasite eggs.—
Bill Sullivan,
The Conversation,
28 May 2025
Adjective
-
Below that sits the pedestrian CLK 500 and plebeian CLK 350.—
Jeremy Korzeniewski,
Robb Report,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Across the lake, on the plebeian side, up the shoreline a mile or so, in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach, stand twin 32-story towers dubbed Trump Plaza of the Palm Beaches.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The film stars Mark Feuerstein as Rabbi Mo, a humble leader in a high-desert Jewish community who is thrust into the role of reluctant warrior after a violent attack shakes his world.—
Eric E. Harrison,
Arkansas Online,
14 Aug. 2025
-
Chelsea may go into the new Premier League campaign wearing a gold badge on their shirts that marks them out as reigning world champions after their triumph in the United States last month but, internally, the message from the club hierarchy is to stay humble and keep working.—
Liam Twomey,
New York Times,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
As deadly wildfires raged across Southern California in January, a Los Angeles city official lamented to the city council and others how they were forced to listen to hateful, vulgar language from some members of the public.—
BrieAnna J. Frank,
USA Today,
13 Aug. 2025
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Her choice to respond by telling me to 'shut the f*** up' and to 'calm my p*****' was vulgar, dismissive and escalated the issue entirely.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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This is an ignoble plan that cites dubious science while elevating the entertainment of a handful of hunters over the revulsion of most Floridians.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
18 July 2025
-
My focus is down to the ignoble little health annoyances that seem to cap and even eclipse a major setback.—
John Updike,
New Yorker,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
The New York Mets lost to the lowly Atlanta Braves on Wednesday as their grip on a top playoff spot slips away.—
Peter Chawaga,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Aug. 2025
-
The corporation dispatches his unit, along with its new hybrids, and Alien: Earth kicks into motion: a scramble between Prodigy and Weyland-Yutani to secure the specimens, with lowly humans and test subjects caught in the crossfire.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In this now-infamous opinion, Taney declared that Black Americans were inferior and had no rights under the US Constitution.—
Kathleen Toner,
CNN Money,
1 Aug. 2025
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The creation of a tunnel that could bypass the most congested areas on the way to BNA would make the conventional route comparatively inferior.—
Charles Singh,
The Tennessean,
29 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lumpen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lumpen. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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