as in middle class
the class of people who earn money by doing usually physical work and who are not rich or powerful
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
as in middle-class
Related Words
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
Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 6 Jan. 2026
The Coalition That Came Apart Lindsay’s mayoralty also increased tensions among segments of the city’s working class.
—Daniel Wortel-London, Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2026
Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register, 15 Feb. 2026
The War on Drugs – including the criminalization of marijuana possession – has devastated Black, Brown, and working-class communities, here in Charlotte and around the country.
—Charlotte Observer, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for working class
Noun
According to his website, he was raised in a working class family that lived in Gallatin and Pendleton counties.
—Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 6 Jan. 2026
The Coalition That Came Apart Lindsay’s mayoralty also increased tensions among segments of the city’s working class.
—Daniel Wortel-London, Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
Sage — a military veteran, the former executive director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and a first-time candidate for office — focused his campaign on working-class issues.
—Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register, 15 Feb. 2026
The War on Drugs – including the criminalization of marijuana possession – has devastated Black, Brown, and working-class communities, here in Charlotte and around the country.
—Charlotte Observer, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for working class
Recent Examples of Synonyms for working class
Noun
-
The onus for resolving this crisis should not be placed on the backs of working and middle class New Yorkers.—
Alexa Herrera,
CBS News,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Pew Research Center defined the 2024 middle class as households earning $55,820 to $167,460, based on the national median income.—
Bebe Hodges,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Most state payments max out at $500 or $600 a week, a quarter of what many upper-middle-class employees earn.—
Annie Lowrey,
The Atlantic,
18 Feb. 2026
-
As in all middle-class horror stories, the two protagonists are blissfully unaware of what’s coming to them.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
16 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Woodcutters sets forth the musings of a narrator sitting in an armchair at a dinner party who excoriates the literary awards establishments of his native land (and by extension all lands that are host to a robust bourgeoisie).—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 Feb. 2026
-
Its leaders sanctioned the mass appropriation of lands from the nobility and their distribution to smaller farmers and the urban bourgeoisie.—
Michael Albertus,
Foreign Affairs,
24 June 2025
Adjective
-
These movies have the extraordinary merit of putting the passions of love and the obstacles to relationships front and center, balancing personal desires and social obligations on an equal footing, and thereby lending bourgeois life the grandeur of tragedy.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
18 Feb. 2026
-
At least Stijn Verhoeven and Ewa Mroczkowska’s nuanced production design for the interiors, including bourgeois homes full of kitschy knick-knacks, anonymous office spaces and frigidly austere villas, tell a story of their own about the material culture of the era.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Policymakers globally are increasingly worried that the unequal adoption of AI risks widening income and development gaps between rich and poor countries.—
Hanna Ziady,
CNN Money,
18 Feb. 2026
-
In November, Jesse Jackon was hospitalized again after suffering a fall while protesting poor campus living conditions with students at Howard University.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Instead the biscuits made from the mix were plain; my favorite part was the garlic and parsley butter brushed on top.—
Shilpa Uskokovic,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
17 Feb. 2026
-
And very plain and simple, just depressed.—
Scott Feinberg,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Working class.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/working%20class. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
