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• working class
  working class

  noun

  those persons working for wages, especially in manual labor.
• working-class
  working-class

  adjective

  of, relating to, or characteristic of the working class, the class of wage earners or manual laborers.

working class

¹ American  

noun

• working classes
  plural

1. those persons working for wages, especially in manual labor.

2. the social or economic class composed of these workers.

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working-class ² American  

[wur-king-klas] / ˈwɜr kɪŋˌklæs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the working class, the class of wage earners or manual laborers.

   He came from a working-class neighborhood in Nova Scotia, where his mother took in laundry and his father had a job in the coal mine.

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working class British  

noun

1. Also called: proletariat. the social stratum, usually of low status, that consists of those who earn wages, esp as manual workers Compare lower class middle class upper class

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adjective

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

working class Cultural  

1. In the United States, the population of blue-collar workers, particularly skilled and semiskilled laborers, who differ in values, but not necessarily in income, from the middle class. In Marxism, this term refers to propertyless factory workers.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• working-class
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• working classes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of working class¹

First recorded in 1805–15

Origin of working-class²

First recorded in 1830–40

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

working class working-class

It was the perfect environment for two blue-collar communities: San Pedro, known for its bustling port and dock workers, and Bell, known as a densely packed working class industrial city.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026

Since the early 1950s, the American National Election Studies has asked respondents whether they think of themselves as members of the working class.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

Dr Alex Blower, a researcher specialising in masculinity, inequality, and education, founded Boys' Impact, a UK-wide network which looks at improving opportunities for young men from working class backgrounds.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Bardella rose to prominence by presenting himself as the voice of France’s working class.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

In her novel Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison captures this distant relationship between the black working class and the Mutual.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

She’s running as a candidate with working-class roots, focused on the farmers and rural communities she argues both political parties have neglected.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

Back in Macon, one of Hollis's colleagues out canvassing voters to make sure they make it to the polls is Octavia Brooks, a working-class grandmother.

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

His latest is a long, solemn drama about a working-class family that becomes the subject of a wealthier woman’s documentary.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

He said the academy served mostly children from the area and that it provided affordable baseball training for working-class families.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

But the working-class child is usually least prepared for the change.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

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