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
This difference is despite seven decades of affirmative action, India's caste system - a four-fold hierarchy of the Hindu religion - remains deeply entrenched.
From BBC • Nov. 14, 2024
Those at the lowest strata of the caste system, known as Dalits, have been pushing for legal protections in California and beyond.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 7, 2023
We now turn to another important difference between mass incarceration and Jim Crow: the direct harm to whites caused by the current caste system.
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.
