caste system
Americannoun
-
caste systems
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
But the caste system is very deeply rooted, said Gidion Mbilijora, who was the "bupati" or head of the East Sumba district for 13 years, and who owns two atas himself.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
India also has a large number of “tribals,” who are outside the caste system but part of the quota system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
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
Throughout his career, he fought to reform Hindu laws of the time on marriage and women's rights and to abolish the caste system.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2025
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.
