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• middle class
  middle class

  noun

  the social, economic, and cultural class of people thought of as having approximately average status, income, education, tastes, and the like.
• middle-class
  middle-class

  adjective

  of, relating to, or characteristic of the middle class; bourgeois.

middle class

¹ American  

[mid-l klas] / ˈmɪd l ˈklæs /

noun

middle classes plural

1. the social, economic, and cultural class of people thought of as having approximately average status, income, education, tastes, and the like.

   Life for the middle class includes going to college, getting a job, getting married, buying a house, and raising kids.

   We intend to put an end to the tax squeeze on the middle class.

2. Sociology. Sometimes middle classes the socioeconomic stratum intermediate between the upper or aristocratic class and the laboring class, made up mostly of business people, professionals, civil servants, and skilled workers, and sometimes further subdivided into the upper middle class and the lower middle class.

   In the 1950s and 1960s in America, an emphasis on education increased upward mobility, and the middle class expanded.

   Self-improvement, a strong work ethic, and modesty were among the core moral values of the German middle classes of the early 20th century.

3. any intermediate class.

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middle-class ² American  

[mid-l-klas, -klahs] / ˈmɪd lˈklæs, -ˈklɑs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the middle class; bourgeois.

   middle-class taste; middle-class morality.

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middle class British  

noun

1. 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 values Compare lower class upper class working class

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the middle class

middle class Cultural  

1. 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.

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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• middle-classness
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• middle classes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of middle class¹

First recorded in 1760–70

Origin of middle-class²

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

middle class middle-class

The reforms Havana just approved create the conditions under which a Cuban middle class could emerge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

De la Espriella appealed not just to anti-left voters, but to a burgeoning middle class frustrated by growing crime -- a leading issue for voters in every recent Latin American election.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Prof János Tóth, a philosopher studying demographic issues at Hungary's University of Szeged, believes the incentives worked especially well for one particular group - the lower middle class in the countryside.

From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026

“Most of the middle class is at 22% now,” said Craig Ferrantino, an adviser in Huntington, N.Y.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026

They remain aloof from the modern temptation that captivates many in America’s middle class: the temptation to relieve the anonymity of public life by trying to make it intimate.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

Those cities, many in the Sunbelt, are often relatively affordable for middle-class families.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

The students' protest has resonated with a large section of middle-class India, cutting across identities of religion, caste or sectors, with people voicing anger about the lack of educational opportunities and jobs in India.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

The show, which aired from 1985 to 1990, was notable for the portrayal of its middle-class Black family.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026

“It’s still tough for middle-class and moderate-income Americans,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, wrote on X.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

Life expectancy has increased overall; but upper-middle-class Americans live longer and in better health than middle-class Americans, who live longer and in better health than those at the bottom.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times