middle class

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See synonyms for: middle class / middle classes on Thesaurus.com

noun

a class of people intermediate between the classes of higher and lower social rank or standing; the social, economic, cultural class, having approximately average status, income, education, tastes, and the like.

the class traditionally intermediate between the aristocratic class and the laboring class.

an intermediate class.

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Origin of middle class

First recorded in 1760–70

Words nearby middle class

middle cardiac vein, middle cerebellar peduncle, middle cerebral vein, middle cervical cardiac nerve, Middle Chinese, middle class, middle cluneal nerve, middle colic vein, middle collateral artery, Middle Comedy, middle common room

Other definitions for middle class (2 of 2)

middle-class

[ mid-l-klas, -klahs ]

/ ˈmɪd lˈklæs, -ˈklɑs /

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of the middle class; bourgeois: middle-class taste; middle-class morality.

Origin of middle-class

First recorded in 1890–95

OTHER WORDS FROM middle-class

middle-classness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use middle class in a sentence

The expansion of federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans, stretching to reach people who are in the middle class or unemployed, is woven into a proposal the House Ways and Means Committee is expected to approve by the end of this week.
Affordable Care Act subsidies likely to increase under congressional plan|Amy Goldstein|February 11, 2021|Washington Post
Economists predicted that Mexico’s economy would contract by up to 9% in 2020, wiping out years of gains for a burgeoning middle class, and potentially pushing some 10 million people into extreme poverty based on income.
Tourists Are Returning to Cancún. But Workers' Fears About COVID-19 Never Went Away|Oscar Lopez / Cancún, Mexico|January 11, 2021|Time
Today’s politicians take evident pride in the United States’ small businesses, large military and middle class.
We teach students how to understand the U.S., not to love it — or hate it|Daniel Immerwahr|December 23, 2020|Washington Post
Wealth is moving upward everywhere, and everywhere the middle class is disappearing.
Art has been brutalized by tech’s giants. How can it survive?|Konstantin Kakaes|December 23, 2020|MIT Technology Review

Coming out of the Vietnam War era, the middle class really did pay a substantial share of taxes and reap a much smaller share of benefits.
Politicians say the middle class gets a bad deal from the U.S. tax system. They’re (kind of) wrong.|Andrew Van Dam|December 10, 2020|Washington Post
I was drawn to The Class for different reasons—chiefly, the pipe dream of achieving a tighter and tauter backside.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
According to Pew, 14 of the 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa have blasphemy laws.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Stephanie Giorgio, a classical musician, credits The Class for helping her cope with anxiety, focus, fear, and self-doubt.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In the last year, her fusion exercise class has attracted a cult following and become de rigueur among the celebrity set.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In the middle of all of that past suffering and present-day conflict, this Cosby bomb was dropped.
Phylicia Rashad and the Cult of Cosby Truthers|Stereo Williams|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
She looked so sweet when she said it, standing and smiling there in the middle of the floor, the door-way making a frame for her.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
Suddenly, however, he became aware of a small black spot far ahead in the very middle of the unencumbered track.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
The Seven-score and four on the six middle Bells, the treble leading, and the tenor lying behind every change, makes good Musick.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman
When we speak against one capital vice, we ought to speak against its opposite; the middle betwixt both is the point for virtue.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
Botanists have enumerated between forty and fifty varieties of the tobacco plant who class them all among the narcotic poisons.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.

British Dictionary definitions for middle class

middle class

noun

Also called: bourgeoisie a social stratum that is not clearly defined but is positioned between the lower and upper classes. It consists of businessmen, professional people, etc, along with their families, and is marked by bourgeois valuesCompare lower class, upper class, working class

adjective middle-class

of, relating to, or characteristic of the middle class

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for middle class

middle class

A social and economic class composed of those more prosperous than the poor, or lower class, and less wealthy than the upper class. Middle class is sometimes loosely used to refer to the bourgeoisie. In the United States and other industrial countries, the term is often applied to white-collar, as opposed to blue-collar, workers.

notes for middle class

Values commonly associated with the middle class include a desire for social respectability and material wealth and an emphasis on the family and education.

middle class

Origin of middle class

Words nearby middle class

Other definitions for middle class (2 of 2)

Origin of middle-class

OTHER WORDS FROM middle-class

Words related to middle class

How to use middle class in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for middle class

Cultural definitions for middle class

notes for middle class