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working class 1 of 2

noun

Definition of working classnext
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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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
  1. middle class
  2. middle-class
  3. bourgeoisie
  4. bourgeois
  5. poor
  6. plain
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
  • To better understand Lizzie and Emma’s experience, as well as that of other middle-class women at the time, Robertson quotes contemporary journalist Julian Ralph.
    — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Barisone learned dressage during a middle-class childhood in far-upstate New York, and soon excelled at it.
    — Ian Parker, New Yorker, 14 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
  • Even if the movie gets a bit crazy in an apocalyptic epilogue, its picture of bourgeois smugness due for a takedown is delicious.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Animals could offer liberatory models to throw off bourgeois conventions, returning Surrealists to primal ways of being.
    — Kelly Presutti, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of bourgeois
Adjective
  • Renovation will only yield temporary improvement unless the original cause of a poor-quality lawn is remedied.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The consequences of a poor performance in the takeaway department sets a very high standard for rookies, something that can only bode well for the future.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of poor
Adjective
  • In plain terms, Connecticut had to build the gas plants and therefore absorbed the emissions and the construction costs, and shipped most of the electricity to other states.
    — Joe McGee, Hartford Courant, 20 Sep. 2026
  • In plain English, data centers are enormous buildings full of computers running around the clock.
    — Kam Shenai, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of plain

Browse Nearby Words

working (at or on)
working class
working-class
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Cite this Entry

“Working class.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/working%20class. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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