as in masses
people looked down upon as ignorant and of the lowest class
the Bolsheviks believed that Russia's discontented proletariat made that nation ripe for revolution
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Recent Examples of proletariat
As is the case with the aesthetics of people, exquisite lines can be found on patrician and proletariat cars alike.
—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
21 Feb. 2025
The first scenario does much more to reduce poverty, demonstrating the importance of permanently expanding access to unemployment insurance to workers with nontraditional jobs—part-timers, freelancers, and other members of the gig economy’s swelling proletariat.
—
Matthew Desmond,
The New York Review of Books,
28 Dec. 2023
Inspired by Karl Marx, the Bolsheviks dreamed of a world communist revolution and held special expectations for Germany, Marx’s homeland, and for its proletariat.
—
Michael Kimmage,
Foreign Affairs,
19 June 2023
Their butler, Adams, is a proletariat.
—
Wayne Catan,
USA TODAY,
10 Jan. 2022
See All Example Sentences for proletariat
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
21 Feb. 2025
The first scenario does much more to reduce poverty, demonstrating the importance of permanently expanding access to unemployment insurance to workers with nontraditional jobs—part-timers, freelancers, and other members of the gig economy’s swelling proletariat.
—
Matthew Desmond,
The New York Review of Books,
28 Dec. 2023
Inspired by Karl Marx, the Bolsheviks dreamed of a world communist revolution and held special expectations for Germany, Marx’s homeland, and for its proletariat.
—
Michael Kimmage,
Foreign Affairs,
19 June 2023
Their butler, Adams, is a proletariat.
—
Wayne Catan,
USA TODAY,
10 Jan. 2022
See All Example Sentences for proletariat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for proletariat
Noun
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But the show repeatedly undercuts that point of view by halfway reinforcing the age-old American assumption that crime is born of poor individual choices among an uncivilized populace, not of poverty, desperation, and preservation, both self and communal.
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Walk our entire populace there and have the tools to be able to accomplish that.
Noun
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Jongno's gay bars are concentrated on the more discreet second-floor levels overlooking Pocha Street, above the heterosexual rabble.
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Though Export’s radical feminist art grew out of a particular political moment that had pretty much passed by the time Yuskavage began her career, the artists nonetheless share a rabble-rousing sensibility and an obsession with the unnerving visual punch of the female body.
Noun
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Lalas’ apparent delight in courting the enmity of the American viewing public also extends to his co-hosts—so much so that his early verbal scuffles with Zlatan Ibrahimović have gone more viral than whooping cough.
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No matter what Bedard or Blackhawks management say in public about contract negotiations, there can be no mistaking the scream of desperation emanating from the Byram acquisition.
Cite this Entry
“Proletariat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/proletariat. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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