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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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
Four out of every five Latinos are considered working class, because of this, finding a time to get to a healthcare provider’s office is often difficult. — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026 Talarico aims to crack down on data centers and establish an artificial intelligence dividend so working class people will have a share in the booming industry. — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Aug. 2026
Adjective
The decade also saw the decline of American manufacturing devastate many working-class communities, along with the AIDS epidemic, which became the country’s most urgent health crisis. — Antonio Ferme, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026 Andrew Bird departed Chicago for California years ago, but the city’s Midwestern disposition and working-class ethic still inform his work. — Bob Gendron, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 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
  • On the brand level, pricing and product-mix strategies become increasingly important as the middle class shifts their value perception.
    — Denni Hu, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2026
  • That approach has led him to bet on sectors from defense to life sciences, and trends like the growth of India’s middle class.
    — Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of middle class
Adjective
  • Frey grew up near Detroit, a comfortably middle-class kid obsessed with Jack Kerouac and his city’s soul hit factory.
    — Grayson Haver Currin, Pitchfork, 30 Aug. 2026
  • For most middle-class families, the estate is not a portfolio.
    — Jon Sabes, Fortune, 30 Aug. 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
  • Dozens of companies have withdrawn over the past decades due to poor profits, an uncertain business outlook and concerns about harm to their reputations from making arms, especially lethal weapons.
    — Mia Osmonbekov, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Along the way, the audience can expect tons of humiliation, terrible second prizes, and the guarantee that Robertson will turn at least one poor soul's wrong turn into several minutes of unhinged public destruction.
    — Rebecca Rosman, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of poor
Adjective
  • But his plain English introduction to what Flock Safety was actually doing is what connected with his audience.
    — Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Even the more minimal versions of this style (such as plain white or ivory with gold rims) have fallen out of favor.
    — Sheila Kim, The Spruce, 30 Aug. 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 8 Sep. 2026.

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