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View synonyms for

middle class

1

[ mid-l klas ]

noun

  1. the social, economic, and cultural class of people thought of as having approximately average status, income, education, tastes, and the like:

    Life for the middle class includes going to college, getting a job, getting married, buying a house, and raising kids.

    We intend to put an end to the tax squeeze on the middle class.

  2. Sociology. Sometimes middle classes. the socioeconomic stratum intermediate between the upper or aristocratic class and the laboring class, made up mostly of business people, professionals, civil servants, and skilled workers, and sometimes further subdivided into the upper middle class and the lower middle class:

    In the 1950s and 1960s in America, an emphasis on education increased upward mobility, and the middle class expanded.

    Self-improvement, a strong work ethic, and modesty were among the core moral values of the German middle classes of the early 20th century.

  3. any intermediate class.


middle-class

2

[ mid-l-klas, -klahs ]

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the middle class; bourgeois:

    middle-class taste; middle-class morality.

middle class

noun

  1. Also calledbourgeoisie a social stratum that is not clearly defined but is positioned between the lower and upper classes. It consists of businessmen, professional people, etc, along with their families, and is marked by bourgeois values Compare lower class upper class working class
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the middle class
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

middle class

  1. A social and economic class composed of those more prosperous than the poor, or lower class, and less wealthy than the upper class. Middle class is sometimes loosely used to refer to the bourgeoisie . In the United States and other industrial countries, the term is often applied to white-collar , as opposed to blue-collar , workers.
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Notes

Values commonly associated with the middle class include a desire for social respectability and material wealth and an emphasis on the family and education.
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Other Word Forms

  • d-n noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of middle class1

First recorded in 1760–70

Origin of middle class2

First recorded in 1890–95
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Other importers fear for their bottom line, including some in the nail salon industry that has lifted many Vietnamese Americans into the middle class.

From

Many of the country's middle classes have invested their savings in buying the family home, only to watch their house prices slump in the last four years.

From

Meanwhile, a host of new Indian trainer-makers are springing up, to serve India's growing middle class.

From

President Eisenhower, who had briefly served as the president of Columbia University before the election, believed American colleges were important to a rising middle class and endorsed generous funding for them.

From

It would be regressive because the taxes would hit the poor and middle class much harder than the wealthy, because a larger share of their income goes toward basics like gas, food and clothes.

From

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