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• lower class
  lower class

  noun

  a class of people below the middle class, having the lowest social rank or standing due to low income, lack of skills or education, and the like.
• lower-class
  lower-class

  adjective

  of, relating to, or characteristic of the lower class.

lower class

¹ American  

[loh-er] / ˈloʊ ər /

noun

• lower classes
  plural

1. a class of people below the middle class, having the lowest social rank or standing due to low income, lack of skills or education, and the like.

2. (broadly) working class.

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lower-class ² American  

[loh-er-klas, -klahs] / ˈloʊ ərˈklæs, -ˈklɑs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the lower class.

   lower-class values.

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lower class British  

noun

1. the social stratum having the lowest position in the social hierarchy Compare middle class upper class working class

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adjective

1. of or relating to the lower class

2. inferior or vulgar

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lower classes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lower class¹

First recorded in 1765–75

Origin of lower-class²

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lower class lower-class

With shaved head and visible tattoos, Iago is in a lower class than Lucas Iverson’s clean-cut Cassio, fueling Iago’s raging resentment of his rival, chosen by the general Othello to be his second in command.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

"For the first time it was the Kenyan people - the working class and the middle class and the lower class - against the ruling class," says Mwangi.

From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2025

Lavin was the grandchild of Russian immigrants, and in later years she often played variations on the Jewish mother — lower class, middle class, upper class.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2024

"Before then, Americans were typically more likely to self-identify as members of the middle or upper-middle class and less likely to say they belonged to the working or lower class."

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2024

Theo doesn’t look down on Vincent for being with someone from a lower class, having done so himself.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

They are particularly alarmed about certain groups possibly ending up paying more for loans than their peers — a daunting prospect today given the cost of living crisis among the nation’s middle- and lower-class.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 17, 2025

I was raised in a lower-class, white, rural American household in the 1970s and '80s.

From Salon ● Nov. 3, 2024

“Most cars stolen are from middle-class or lower-class people who really need that car and maybe have one car, and that’s a great expense to them to lose that car,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2023

Over the course of this war, the money from the Delian League enriched many lower-class Athenians, who found employment as rowers in the fleet.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

“As I said, we normally focus more on the working conditions of lower-class women in factory settings, where their daily duties put them at risk of considerable harm,” Tess continues.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Related Words

• proletariat
• working class