proletariat

[ proh-li-tair-ee-uht ]

noun

1. Usually the proletariat. in Marxist theory, the class made up of workers, especially industrial wage earners, who do not possess capital or property and must sell their labor to those who do in order to survive:

   The call of the proletariat is to overthrow the capitalist mode of production and finally abolish the whole class structure.

   A dictatorship of the proletariat is the first stage of the revolution.

2. Usually the proletariat. the class made up of wage earners, especially unskilled or semiskilled workers who earn their living by manual labor, often dependent on daily or casual employment and typically having low levels of education and disposable income; the working class.
3. the lowest or poorest class of people, possessing no property, especially in ancient Rome.

proletariat

/ ˌprəʊlɪˈtɛərɪət /

noun

1. all wage-earners collectively
2. the lower or working class
3. (in Marxist theory) the class of wage-earners, esp industrial workers, in a capitalist society, whose only possession of significant material value is their labour
4. (in ancient Rome) the lowest class of citizens, who had no property

proletariat

¹

1. A term often applied to industrial workers, particularly by followers of Karl Marx (see also Marx ).

proletariat

²

1. In Marxism, the industrial working class , people without property.

Other Words From

• pro·le·tar·i·an adjective noun
• non·pro·le·tar·i·at noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of proletariat¹

First recorded in 1850–55; from French prolétariat; equivalent to proletary + -ate ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of proletariat¹

C19: via French from Latin prōlētārius proletarian

Example Sentences

Under Stalin, and for years after his death in 1953, officially sanctioned artwork emphasized a Socialist Realist glorification of the heroic proletariat.

From Washington Post

At the height of the Soviet Union, the proletariat universally understood everything their government said was a work of fiction.

From The Daily Beast

Some “new men” from peasant and artisan backgrounds rose, but many others became part of an impoverished proletariat.

From The Daily Beast

Ultimately, though, what saved the Okies was not proletariat revolution but another world war.

From The Daily Beast

In a post on his blog, Sprouse claims that he has become a member of the proletariat to feed his video game addiction.

From The Daily Beast

While Bolshevism was a dictatorship of the proletariat, Nazism was a dictatorship with a voting consensus behind it.

From The Daily Beast

The fact of compulsory education created a proletariat able and willing to read.

From Project Gutenberg

The thirst for culture has produced a great, hungry, intellectual proletariat.

From Project Gutenberg

The higher technical education increases that intellectual proletariat which Bismarck saw to be a peril.

From Project Gutenberg

At the same time the state was overthrown by a political party, the Bolsheviks, who set up a dictatorship of the proletariat.

From Project Gutenberg

Discusses the dictatorship of the proletariat, and its chances for success in the United States.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• lower class