a number of persons or things regarded as forming a group by reason of common attributes, characteristics, qualities, or traits; kind; sort.
a class of objects used in daily living.
a group of students meeting regularly to study a subject under the guidance of a teacher.
The class had arrived on time for the lecture.
the period during which a group of students meets for instruction.
a meeting of a group of students for instruction.
a classroom.
a number of pupils in a school, or of students in a college, pursuing the same studies, ranked together, or graduated in the same year.
She graduated from Ohio State, class of '72.
a social stratum sharing basic economic, political, or cultural characteristics, and having the same social position.
Artisans form a distinct class in some societies.
the system of dividing society; caste.
social rank, especially high rank.
the members of a given group in society, regarded as a single entity.
any division of persons or things according to rank or grade.
Hotels were listed by class, with the most luxurious ones listed first.
excellence; exceptional merit.
She's a good performer, but she lacks class.
Hinduism. any of the four social divisions, the Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Shudra, of Hindu society; varna.
Informal. elegance, grace, or dignity, as in dress and behavior.
He may be a slob, but his brother has real class.
any of several grades of accommodations available on ships, airplanes, and the like.
We bought tickets for first class.
Informal. the best or among the best of its kind.
This new plane is the class of the wide-bodied airliners.
Biology. the usual major subdivision of a phylum or division in the classification of organisms, usually consisting of several orders.
British University. any of three groups into which candidates for honors degrees are divided according to merit on the basis of final examinations.
drafted or conscripted soldiers, or persons available for draft or conscription, all of whom were born in the same year.
Grammar. form class.
Ecclesiastical. classis.
(in early Methodism) one of several small companies, each composed of about 12 members under a leader, into which each society or congregation was divided.
Statistics. a group of measurements that fall within a specified interval.
Mathematics. a set; a collection.
the classes, the higher ranks of society, as distinguished from the masses.
Computer Science. a programming construct that defines the attributes and methods shared by a set of objects.
classic.
classical.
classification.
classified.
a collection or division of people or things sharing a common characteristic, attribute, quality, or property
a group of persons sharing a similar social position and certain economic, political, and cultural characteristics
(in Marxist theory) a group of persons sharing the same relationship to the means of production
the pattern of divisions that exist within a society on the basis of rank, economic status, etc
( as modifier )
the class struggle
class distinctions
a group of pupils or students who are taught and study together
a meeting of a group of students for tuition
a group of students who graduated in a specified year
the class of '53
(in combination and as modifier) a grade of attainment in a university honours degree
second-class honours
one of several standards of accommodation in public transport See also first class second class third class
informal excellence or elegance, esp in dress, design, or behaviour
that girl's got class
( as modifier )
a class act
outstanding speed and stamina in a racehorse
( as modifier )
the class horse in the race
biology any of the taxonomic groups into which a phylum is divided and which contains one or more orders. Amphibia, Reptilia, and Mammalia are three classes of phylum Chordata
maths logic
another name for set 2
a class which cannot itself be a member of other classes
unequalled; unparalleled
A taxonomic category of organisms ranking above an order and below a phylum or division. In modern taxonomic schemes, the names of classes end in –phyceae for the various groups of algae, –mycetes for fungi, and –opsida for plants (as in Liliopsida, the class of plants also termed monocotyledons). The names of classes belonging to phyla of the animal kingdom, however, are formed in various ways, as Osteichthyes the bony fishes, Aves, the birds, and Mammalia, the mammals, all of which are classes belonging to the subphylum Vertebrata (the vertebrates) in the phylum Chordata.
See Table at taxonomy
See collective noun.
Mammals, reptiles, and insects are classes.
First recorded in 1590–1600; earlier classis, plural classes, from Latin: “class, division, fleet, army”; singular class back formation from plural
If you attend school, you probably have a favorite class — a series of lectures or discussions where you can learn about a particular subject, like English, math, or economics. The characteristic of being high quality or displaying elegance is also called class. Your snobby friend might glance around your favorite diner and say, "Let's go somewhere else. This place has no class." In society, class refers to a ranking system based on socio-economics, birth, education level, or a combination of those things. Your ancestors might have been working class, until your grandfather struck it rich.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Jillian Vordick is a graphics intern and part of the summer 2026 newsroom intern class at The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The Keeley Small Cap Fund’s institutional share class has annual expenses totaling 1% of assets under management, which makes for $100 in annual fees for a $10,000 investment.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
The San Bruno-based company owned by Google agreed to a $7.5-million settlement in a class action lawsuit that alleged the company violated California’s automatic renewal law when renewing YouTube TV subscriptions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Keen to find out more about family life in Islington, I joined a Zip-Zap baby music class to speak to parents.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Back home, I head to the treehouse with the writing notebook from Jonah and my phone so I can do today’s freewriting and then search for poems for class tonight.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
“It wasn’t even his class. He just happened to be there,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025
"These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families."
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2024
“In Eastern Province we have more than 100 learners in one class. This has also worsened the book-to-pupil ratio. In some instances you find one book being fought over by six or seven learners.”
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2024
“It’s all critical thinking in my class. Engaging, debates, things like that,” he said.
From Slate ● May 30, 2024
“You’re going to head to class. Lunch is almost over, and I have a group coming in soon.”
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
Among the concerns were that schools had to delay the start of classes “because of the problems of dark mornings.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
"I still try to be really active but I can't access those classes and community events... because I can't get past those cars."
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The study also provides the first direct genetic evidence that can be used to investigate how power was inherited at Shimao, who belonged to its ruling families, and how different social classes were formed.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026
Caroline, who spent her last year at Harvard Business School taking classes on buying and operating small businesses, took over running Minuteman after Nat’s job started.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Penny papers, the first mass media, gained a wide readership among Americans of all classes.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
In its latest State of the UK Climate report, the Met Office says weather that used to be classed as extreme is becoming the "new normal".
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
That law obliges companies classed as EU gatekeepers—like Google—to make it easier for rivals to compete with their widely popular services from search engines to app stores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
Some people classed as leaving the country voluntarily do so completely independently and without any government knowledge or involvement.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
It is the country’s 45th-most valuable company—at $261 billion—but still classed as a midcap, the smallest 800 of the Russell 1000 index.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
The forgiveness, rather, of those many persons whose absence from higher education permitted me to be classed a minority student.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
Anthony Hopkins, classing up the joint, plays Emperor Vespasian, who is preparing to die and is considering which of his two sons will succeed him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2024
As an epidemiologist, he knew to look for three things before classing a disease as contagious; clustering, self-replication and epidemic waves.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2018
Even though they're a sturdy, workman's shoe, they have a knack for quickly classing up any golf outfit, pairing just as well with casual shorts as they do with high-end trousers.
From Golf Digest ● Sep. 12, 2017
Dave Chappelle comes out wearing sunglasses to kick off the Prince tribute, classing up the joint for a second.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 27, 2016
Leibniz never undertook a systematic classification of the whole realm of language, nor was he successful in classing the dialects with which he had become acquainted.
From Lectures on The Science of Language by Müller, Max
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.
