prole

American  

[prohl, proh-lee] / proʊl, ˈproʊ li /

noun

Informal.

1. a member of the proletariat.

2. a person who performs routine tasks in a society.

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adjective

1. proletarian.

prole British  

/ prəʊl /

noun

1. derogatory short for proletarian

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Etymology

Origin of prole

First recorded in 1885–90; shortened form of proletariat

Explanation

A prole is a worker, or a member of the blue-collar working class. Someone who's employed at a mill or a factory is considered a prole. Prole is short for proletariat, the collective name for workers that's especially common in (and was popularized by) Marxist economics. The word comes from the Latin proletarius, "citizen of the lowest class," used in ancient Rome to describe the group of people who didn't own property and whose only contribution to society was having children. It comes from proles, or "offspring."

Example Sentences

Last year gave us “The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe” with Eddie Marsan as an angry prole who chose to paddle away from society.

From New York Times • Jan. 5, 2023

The rebel manufacturers of Hoffman lenses inside the church will never for an instant consider distributing those potential instruments of prole revolution among their immediate neighbors in Justiceville.

From Slate • Aug. 9, 2017

In King Arthur, Law’s problem – Oh, will no one rid me of this cheeky prole? – is more interesting than Hunnam’s problem because Law is more interesting than Hunnam.

From The Guardian • Jun. 8, 2017

He was not just Mr Cameron’s top prole; security types were impressed by his grasp of strategy.

From Economist • Jun. 26, 2014

If there was anyone alive who could give you a truthful account of conditions in the early part of the century, it could only be a prole.

From "1984" by George Orwell