caste system
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of caste system
First recorded in 1810–20
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
White working-class and precarious middle-class voters were alarmed not only at the upending of the racial caste system but also at what they saw as an unraveling of society in general.
From Salon • May 6, 2026
There a medieval caste system has bred, not surprisingly, rebellion and the suspicion that all is not what it seems above ground.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025
Arulmozhi, who is still an atheist and a feminist, says feminism and fighting inequities perpetrated by the caste system have been central to Periyar’s movement, which continues today.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 4, 2023
Some Hindu groups argued the caste system is not a serious issue in North America.
From BBC • Sep. 6, 2023
Many African Americans today believe that uplift ideology worked in the past and ought to work again—forgetting that ultimately it took a major movement to end the last caste system, not simply good behavior.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
