proletarian

[ proh-li-tair-ee-uhn ]

See synonyms for: proletarian proletarians on Thesaurus.com

adjective

pertaining or belonging to the proletariat.
(in ancient Rome) belonging to the lowest or poorest class of the people.

noun

a member of the proletariat.

Origin of proletarian

First recorded in 1650–60; see origin at proletary, -an

Other words from proletarian

pro·le·tar·i·an·ly, adverb
pro·le·tar·i·an·ness, noun
half-pro·le·tar·i·an, adjective
non·pro·le·tar·i·an, adjective, noun

Words Nearby proletarian

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use proletarian in a sentence

This wouldn’t be the first time BMW took some good cues from the generally proletarian Suzuki.
22 of the weirdest concept motorcycles ever made | By John Burns/Cycle World | September 10, 2020 | Popular-Science
Dos Passos interweaved the stories of his more proletarian subjects with biographies of some well-known Americans.
Individual Lives in an Unforgiving America | Michael Tomasky | May 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Am I going to get a "knock on the door" asking me to explain how Fidel's proletarian paradise knew so much about the Poll Tax?
My Professor, the Spy | Tom Murray | June 9, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
Socialists are very anxious to disassociate these from the "proletarian" Sunday-schools which teach atheism.
Secret Societies And Subversive Movements | Nesta H. Webster
It should be obvious that a proletarian state would be tempted by this precedent.
The Book of Life: Vol. I Mind and Body; Vol. II Love and Society | Upton Sinclair

I shall always think of him in his proletarian grey woollen underdrawers and undershirt.
Tramping on Life | Harry Kemp
Whether capitalist or proletarian, reformer or liberal, we have all along been behaving and thinking in soviet fashion.
The Behavior of Crowds | Everett Dean Martin
Their support for a genuinely proletarian revolution can hardly be expected, on Loria's own theory.
Karl Marx | Achille Loria

British Dictionary definitions for proletarian

proletarian

less commonly proletary (ˈprəʊlɪtərɪ, -trɪ)

/ (ˌprəʊlɪˈtɛərɪən) /

adjective

of, relating, or belonging to the proletariat

nounplural -tarians or -taries

a member of the proletariat

Origin of proletarian

C17: from Latin prōlētārius one whose only contribution to the state was his offspring, from prōlēs offspring

Derived forms of proletarian

proletarianism, noun
proletarianness, noun

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

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