WORKING CLASS Synonyms: 83 Similar and Opposite Words

working class 1 of 2

noun

Definition of working class

as in middle class

the class of people who earn money by doing usually physical work and who are not rich or powerful

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Dissimilar Words

working-class

2 of 2

adjective

as in middle-class

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of working class

Noun

And that’s just not a pairing that really attracts working class people. — David Weigel, semafor.com, 26 Aug. 2026 And right now the -- a lot of the worst politicians right now are sitting up on high in Oval Office rooms, detached from the feelings of working class people. — ABC News, 23 Aug. 2026

Adjective

That protective bubble, sealing the Morenos off from the outside world, is violated when their working-class neighbor Toby (Graham) begins a project to convert his garage into a studio by installing a window in the two properties’ adjoining wall. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026 Despite government investment and some newcomers who have relocated here for ideological reasons to help strengthen this working-class city, Kiryat Shmona is struggling to recover financially and demographically. — Dina Kraft, Christian Science Monitor, 8 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for working class

Recent Examples of Synonyms for working class

Noun

If the stock market corrects and the top 20% pulls back on discretionary spending, a diminished middle class leaves the economy with a weaker floor to fall back on.

— Katica Roy, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2026
Unions built the middle class, and the middle class built this country.

— Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of middle class

Adjective

Serena and Venus Williams, for example, grew up in a middle-class family in Compton, California, before becoming two of the most successful and recognizable players in tennis history.

— Preston Fore, Fortune, 5 Sep. 2026
At a time when the nascent feminist movement was largely associated with White, middle-class women, Steinem made race and social class central to her thought and writing.

— Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of middle-class

Noun

The state discovered that reforms had to be beneficial to all, and so the political mission had to be implementing education and acculturation as a means of solidifying the nascent bourgeoisie.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026
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.

— Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2026

Definition of bourgeoisie

Adjective

Animals could offer liberatory models to throw off bourgeois conventions, returning Surrealists to primal ways of being.

— Kelly Presutti, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
What the story is actually about almost doesn’t matter — just enjoy the quiet luxury of it all, with the ever-endearing Fabrice Luchini in the lead doing yet another bumbling, bourgeois gentleman of a certain age.

— Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of bourgeois

Adjective

The following season, Chelsea topped their Champions League group, but poor Premier League form saw Mourinho sacked in mid-December.

— Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Many are in poor shape, with thin, uninsulated walls, leaky windows, old or broken swamp coolers and electrical systems that can't always handle air conditioners.

— Alejandra Borunda, NPR, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of poor

Adjective

Customers who want waffles at No Knife will pay anywhere from $15 for a plain one to $45 for a waffle topped with collard greens, candied yams, and mac and cheese.

— Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 8 Sep. 2026
The Democratic candidates won at the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, where a judges’ panel found that the FCC public notice contradicts the plain language of US law that limits the discount to individual candidates.

— Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of plain

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working (at or on)

working class

working-class

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Cite this Entry

Style

“Working class.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/working%20class. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of working class

noun

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

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