as in poor
belonging to the class of people of middle social or economic rank
She grew up in a middle-class neighborhood, as did most of her classmates.
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as in working class
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of middle-class
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
24 June 2026
In the late 1940s, a series of court decisions saw more Black Los Angeles families move into neighborhoods such as Lafayette Square, an upper-middle-class enclave in Mid-City.
—
Elise Taylor,
Vanity Fair,
24 June 2026
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
25 June 2026
As America’s middle class underwent an unprecedented expansion, African Americans remained subject to discriminatory housing, employment, and banking practices.
—
Hua Hsu,
New Yorker,
22 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for middle-class
Adjective
Shifters follows Dre, a Brit of Nigerian heritage who comes from a council estate, and Des, the middle-class daughter of a neurologist.
—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
24 June 2026
In the late 1940s, a series of court decisions saw more Black Los Angeles families move into neighborhoods such as Lafayette Square, an upper-middle-class enclave in Mid-City.
—
Elise Taylor,
Vanity Fair,
24 June 2026
Noun
As compared to shinier entries—1995’s S&S, 1996’s P&P mini-series; the Bridgerton universe—Joe Wright’s take on Austenland caught both flack and favor for rendering the Bennets as obviously lower middle class.
—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
25 June 2026
As America’s middle class underwent an unprecedented expansion, African Americans remained subject to discriminatory housing, employment, and banking practices.
—
Hua Hsu,
New Yorker,
22 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for middle-class
Recent Examples of Synonyms for middle-class
Adjective
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Because of that, these hands suffer from high production costs, poor durability against impacts, short operational lifespans, and there are no existing solutions that engineers can readily draw upon, Wang added.
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The extreme heat can also affect people who are physically ill, especially those with heart disease or high blood pressure, or who take certain medications, such as for depression, insomnia, or poor circulation.
Noun
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Sade’s debut is a pristine work of professional studio craft just like all their subsequent releases, but Diamond Life was made by a working class band that had spent years gigging in the clubs of London.
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This is about working class voters, working class, working class.
Adjective
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In sharp contrast to the first-generation members of the Frankfurt School, Habermas came from a petit-bourgeois, culturally conservative Protestant milieu, his family name going back to sixteenth-century Thuringian cobblers.
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Their attempts to destroy the bourgeois family were, like the efforts of Suzanna’s mother and grandmother, ambivalent and half-hearted.
Noun
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For a long time, the lifestyles and foibles of the modest bourgeoisie were a mainstay of art-house cinema, with urbane, upscale audiences happy to turn out to see versions of their own lives depicted on the screen.
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His mother was born into Rome’s commercial bourgeoisie, but she had essentially been disinherited, nose-diving into the working class with a pair of children to raise.
Adjective
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As for the volunteers, the goal is simple—help someone stay safe before the heat turns into an emergency.
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Evidence for at-home tools is thinner than for professional manual drainage, but the simplest options can offer mild circulation and surface-lymph support at a low price.
Adjective
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Instead, Valadao will face off against progressive Randy Villegas, a college professor and son of Mexican immigrants, who built grassroots support in the heavily Latino, working-class district.
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Incumbents have run on the perception that the transplants who have moved into working-class neighborhoods are pushing residents out while imposing their politics on more moderate communities of color.
Cite this Entry
“Middle-class.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/middle-class. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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