as in poor
belonging to the class of people of middle social or economic rank
She grew up in a middle-class neighborhood, as did most of her classmates.
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as in working class
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of middle-class
Moisés Naím, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2025
Seeking to fill a vacuum within a party struggling to respond to Trump and his efforts to dismantle the federal government, Pritzker has offered a message that attempts to recapture middle-class voters who abandoned the party in the 2024 elections.
—Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 24 Mar. 2025
Eric Cortellessa, TIME, 18 Mar. 2025
However, this aspiring middle class—a non-unionized, kind of creative, professional class—in real terms, their lives have gotten worse economically in the last 10 years.
—Amiel Stanek, Bon Appétit, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for middle-class
Adjective
Public housing in Chile had never included such middle-class trappings as parking.
—Moisés Naím, The Atlantic, 25 Mar. 2025
Seeking to fill a vacuum within a party struggling to respond to Trump and his efforts to dismantle the federal government, Pritzker has offered a message that attempts to recapture middle-class voters who abandoned the party in the 2024 elections.
—Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 24 Mar. 2025
Noun
Claiming that free trade agreements have spurred upward social mobility, one of his slides asserted that the middle class has shrunk in recent years only because more people had moved into the upper class.
—Eric Cortellessa, TIME, 18 Mar. 2025
However, this aspiring middle class—a non-unionized, kind of creative, professional class—in real terms, their lives have gotten worse economically in the last 10 years.
—Amiel Stanek, Bon Appétit, 17 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for middle-class
Recent Examples of Synonyms for middle-class
Adjective
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This can manifest in poor financial behaviors like excessive credit card debt, minimal savings, or impulsive investment decisions.—
Shane Enete,
Forbes,
24 Mar. 2025
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Long hours spent sitting at a desk, driving or looking at screens promote poor posture, where the upper back rounds forward, compressing the rib cage and restricting movement.—
Dana Santas,
CNN,
23 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Portrayed by Brigitte Helm in Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film Metropolis, Maria is a compassionate worker who becomes a spiritual leader for the oppressed working class.—
Ryan Brennan,
Charlotte Observer,
19 Mar. 2025
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In an interview with TIME, Golden discussed how the party should speak to swing voters, how to rebuild trust, and how to reposition the working class at the core of the Democratic coalition.—
Charlotte Alter,
TIME,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Pleated skirts and argyle sweater vests, all in neutral shades of navy, taupe and traditional black, completed the bourgeois wardrobe.—
Rhonda Richford,
WWD,
14 Mar. 2025
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Ibsen saw an individual’s self-determination as a remedy for bourgeois hypocrisy, the first salvo of liberation.—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2025
Noun
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According to theory, words referred not to the world they were tasked with representing but only to other words in a ruthless system where meaning was elusive, reality an illusion and the self a romantic fiction perpetrated by the capitalist bourgeoisie.—
Emily Eakin,
New York Times,
18 Feb. 2025
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Even before the Atlantic City Boardwalk became the iconic scene of the Roaring ‘20s New Jersey bourgeoisie, the Jersey Shore was already increasingly a vacation spot for the wealthy.—
Andrew DePietro,
Forbes,
22 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Pair them with a simple T-shirt to grab a coffee at a cafe.—
Rylee Johnston,
Travel + Leisure,
23 Mar. 2025
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Jenner wore a gray and lightly checked car coat, a simple black knit sweater, straight leg blue jeans, and black ballet flats.—
Anna Cafolla,
Vogue,
23 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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These were tough, humanistic stories about working-class people and real issues, real problems.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
22 Mar. 2025
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The British series stars burly character actor Steven Graham, who gives an Emmy-worthy performance as a working-class father trying to do better than his parents ever did, but must now face the idea that his 13-year-old son may have killed a fellow student.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Middle-class.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/middle-class. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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