proletarian
Americanadjective
-
pertaining or belonging to the proletariat.
-
(in ancient Rome) belonging to the lowest or poorest class of the people.
noun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
- half-proletarian adjective
- nonproletarian adjective
- proletarianism noun
- proletarianly adverb
- proletarianness noun
Etymology
Origin of proletarian
Explanation
Working class, blue collar, plebeian and certainly not aristocratic — that's what the adjective proletarian means. Proletarian has roots in the Latin word proles, which means "offspring." That's because back in ancient Rome, a proletarian was a member of the proletariat, the class of society that had no wealth and didn't own property. The only thing these proletarians had to offer was their hard work and their children. Today's proletarians are a little better off; they're considered the working class and just might have better benefits through their unions than some white-collar workers out there.
Vocabulary lists containing proletarian
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Power Suffix: -arian
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
This too may be characteristic of a Dame, although pairing that with her unstuffy humor and refreshingly proletarian quick wit engendered in us a familiarity.
From Salon • Oct. 1, 2024
The party declared him a “great proletarian revolutionary” and “long-tested Communist fighter.”
From Seattle Times • Dec. 5, 2022
The experience, and her later workshop jobs, instilled in her a proletarian ethos very different from the aesthetic high-mindedness taught in England’s art schools.
From New York Times • Sep. 25, 2022
The social critic Mike Davis once called these “stealth houses” that hide their “luxurious qualities with proletarian or gangster facades.”
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2022
Or they would disappear, alter themselves out of recognition, learn to speak with proletarian accents, get jobs in a factory, and live out their lives undetected in a back street.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
