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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as in middle-class
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Recent Examples of working class
Sharyn Alfonsi, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026
The new mayor promised to bridge the divide between the Bay Area’s business community and its working class in a lasting fashion, but now, some business leaders fear the city is backsliding.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 23 Apr. 2026
Juliana Kim, NPR, 9 May 2026
Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England's north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades.
—CBS News, 9 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for working class
Noun
The love affair Europe has for pigeon racing began in the 1800s and grew into a working class sport.
—Sharyn Alfonsi, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026
The new mayor promised to bridge the divide between the Bay Area’s business community and its working class in a lasting fashion, but now, some business leaders fear the city is backsliding.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 23 Apr. 2026
Adjective
As a result, the sport was largely associated with working-class and immigrant communities, Bunk added.
—Juliana Kim, NPR, 9 May 2026
Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England's north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades.
—CBS News, 9 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for working class
Recent Examples of Synonyms for working class
Noun
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Being middle class comes with a fear of losing a specific sense of safety; the existential quest is finding out if there’s more to life than clutching onto your stuff in anticipatory panic.—
Francesco Pacifico,
The Dial,
12 May 2026
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While working as a bartender on Nantucket, part of the island’s dwindling middle class, Claire’s world cracks open when her mother gets sick and her daughter moves home.—
Chris Gardner,
HollywoodReporter,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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Although the Republican president has tried to put more money in middle-class pockets with tax cuts, the benefits are being eroded as prices keep rising, especially during the war with Iran.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 May 2026
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So for many middle-class Americans, the choice is between a dangerous amount of debt or no new car at all — which has, in turn, sent prices for used cars soaring.—
Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 May 2026
Noun
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The book told of Miss Peterson’s search for her own ancestry and detailed her discovery of the prosperous, Black bourgeoisie, based largely in Brooklyn, that had played a principal role in the New York of the late nineteenth century.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
12 May 2026
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The economic cost of the war is now palpable – with cell-phone data outages that regularly blight major cities angering even the pro-Putin bourgeoisie – adding to a sense of the war beginning to hit the urban elite, who until now were mostly isolated from the invasion’s impact.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
4 May 2026
Adjective
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Traditionally, the bourgeois novel questioned the viability of bourgeois life, not the viability of life itself.—
James Wood,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
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Perhaps Fogel, a fervent leftist, chafed at having to celebrate the family, that bourgeois institution.—
Judith Shulevitz,
The Atlantic,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Harper opened a small dance studio, on Forty-sixth Street; business was poor until Bradley was hired and revamped Delroy’s act.—
Brian Seibert,
New Yorker,
13 May 2026
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Still vehicle electronics can be damaged from reverse polarity, poor or wrong connection points or voltage spikes from improper equipment.—
Hartford Courant,
Hartford Courant,
12 May 2026
Adjective
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Celebrities have kept the plain pointed stiletto in rotation inside the broader white shoe push this spring, especially as the color has moved past bridal dressing and into red carpets, press stops and daytime appearances.—
Maggie Clancy,
Footwear News,
12 May 2026
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The team also collected artifacts that were often found sitting in plain sight for conservation, protection and research purposes.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
12 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Working class.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/working%20class. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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