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
It’s not a caste system where only undocumented people do some things and only documented people or citizens do others.
From Slate • Sep. 15, 2025
Her writings about Indian culture and civilisation and its caste system are ground-breaking, and are a part of the curriculum in Indian colleges.
From BBC • Jan. 18, 2025
Hollywood, after all, has its own hierarchies — its own caste system, if you will.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 3, 2024
No task is more urgent for racial justice advocates today than ensuring that America’s current racial caste system is its last.
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.
