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lower-class

lower-class

5 3.5
People who have little money, little education, or low social status
  • adjective
  • /ˈloʊər klæs/
translation icon : clase baja
  • Health concerns poor and middle-class Nicaraguan women alike, but poor health afflicts lower-class, less-educated, and rural women disproportionately.
  • lower-class family
  • lower-class people
  • lower-class status

Examples

  • The novel explores the struggles of a lower-class family trying to make ends meet.

  • But it's also a problem felt by white men, especially lower-class white men.

    Blog text (15)
  • Also, you have to ask yourself: who are the real lower classes in a global economy?

    Blog text (13)
  • Many of these individuals associated this music with the lower classes.

    Academic text (1999)
  • As such, it has a large lower-class population on its north and east sides.

    Blog text (18)
  • With crack, you see a lot of very impoverished, lower-class people.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Physical education teachers are often thought of as lower-class citizens among educators and administrators.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Although noting the lower-class origins of many immigrants, they do not highlight their working-class lives in America.

    Academic text (1991)
  • It is the lower-class male, often Negro, who finds it difficult to control his urges.

  • Gradually, downtown impoverished, and the lived space changed accordingly: numerous informal local street cafes emerged, and lower-class Egyptians inhabited the ramshackle buildings.

    Academic text (2018)

Synonyms

lowly
vslower-class
46 4.2

A person of low rank or importance, for example a servant

refers to people from the poorest social group rather than individual rank
underprivileged
vslower-class
24 4.4

People who have less money, chances, or help than others

labels a social group by low wealth, education, and status
low-class
vslower-class
  • Offensive
9 4.9

From the lowest social or economic group and seen as having low status

is the standard term for that same socioeconomic group
lowborn
vslower-class
  • Archaic
1 7.4

A person from a family that is not rich or important

describes present socioeconomic class instead of ancestry or birth origin

Antonyms

258 4.7

A small group of the most powerful or rich people in a society

11 4.3

Belonging to the richest and most powerful people in society

How Wealthy

wealthy
520 2.5
upper-class
11 4.3
middle-class
201 3.2
lower-class
5 3.5
poor
194 1.3
destitute
20 6.5

Surface Forms

lower-class positive

Morphology

lower-class = lower + class (transparent) = lower + class

A straightforward compound of 'lower' + 'class' meaning the class that is lower in social or economic status.

Etymology

Lower-class is a simple compound of lower ('below') and class ('group' or 'social rank'), a bit like a school class meaning a group of people. So, lower-class is the group of people placed below others in wealth, education, or status.