WORKING CLASS Definition & Meaning

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working class

noun

those persons working for wages, especially in manual labor.
the social or economic class composed of these workers.

working-class

[ wur-king-klas ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of the working class, the class of wage earners or manual laborers:
He came from a working-class neighborhood in Nova Scotia, where his mother took in laundry and his father had a job in the coal mine.

working class

noun

Also calledproletariat the social stratum, usually of low status, that consists of those who earn wages, esp as manual workers Compare lower class middle class upper class

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of the working class

working class

In the United States, the population of blue-collar workers, particularly skilled and semiskilled laborers, who differ in values, but not necessarily in income , from the middle class . In Marxism , this term refers to propertyless factory workers.

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Other �y��vlog Forms

�ɴǰ��i�Բ�-�� adjective

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of working class¹

First recorded in 1805–15

Origin of working class²

First recorded in 1830–40

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

She grew up as part of a "normal, working class" household, met her husband and ended up working for the NHS herself in a "hands-on" clinical role.

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In an interview with the BBC, Mr Hartley confirmed he posted in 2022 that Savile was a "working class hero" and said that he may have "forgotten" to disclose his X account to Reform UK.

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It is not clear if the character is based on a real or fictional person, but the figure of Molly Malone has come to represent part of Dublin's working class community.

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This is an important fact that is not commented upon enough in the dominant narrative that Trumpism is primarily about an aggrieved “working class.”

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He accused Nash of posing as a working class musician, pointing out she'd attended the Brit School - which he mistakenly thought was a private, fee-paying establishment.

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