lumpenproletariat

American  

[luhm-puhn-proh-li-tair-ee-uht] / ˈlʌm pənˌproʊ lɪˈtɛər i ət /

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

1. the lowest level of the proletariat comprising unskilled workers, vagrants, and criminals and characterized by a lack of class identification and solidarity.

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lumpenproletariat British  

/ ˌlʌmpənˌprəʊlɪˈtɛərɪət /

noun

1. (esp in Marxist theory) the amorphous urban social group below the proletariat, consisting of criminals, tramps, etc

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Etymology

Origin of lumpenproletariat

1920–25; < German (Marx, 1850), equivalent to Lumpen rag or Lumpen-, combining form of Lump ragamuffin + Proletariat proletariat

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lumpenproletariat

“You know, I just saw ‘The Hairy Ape’ by Eugene O’Neill, and the line that keeps recurring in this lumpenproletariat protagonist in the play is ‘I don’t belong,’ ” he says.

From Washington Post ● May 11, 2017

He realized that he’d been part of the lumpenproletariat, a term that Marx coined to describe “thieves and criminals of all kinds, living on the crumbs of society.”

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 8, 2017

With his newfound respectability, there was no longer any plausible reason to keep the country’s lumpenproletariat from assuming the political power it deserved by dint of its numbers.

From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2016

I assumed my forebears had been poor, but poverty homogenises – the labouring poor, the working class, the lumpenproletariat – as if it were an identity and not a condition.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 11, 2014

This damaged soul lives among others of Hollywood's lumpenproletariat in Gower Gulch, a sort of surrealist Hooverville.

From Time Magazine Archive