proletariat

CEFRB2

/ˌpɹəʊ.lɪˈtɛə.ɹɪ.ət/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The working class, especially people who earn wages through labor.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Wage earners collectively; people who own no capital and depend on their labour for survival; the working class, especially when seen as engaged in a class struggle with the bourgeoisie (“the capital-owning class”).

Examples

  • I am vehemently opposed to all dictatorships, whether of the proletariat or otherwise.

  • The proletariat has nothing to lose but its chains.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1
Synonyms
3

Also pronounced

  • /ˌpɹoʊ.lɪˈtɛɚ.i.ət/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The lowest class of society; also, the lower classes of society generally; the masses.

  2. The lowest class of citizens, who had no property and few rights, and were regarded as contributing only their offspring to the state.

More examples

In context

  • Respect is due to the proletariat.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The revolution was driven by the blank, the class of industrial wage earners.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Borrowed from French prolétariat, from prolétaire + -at, from Latin proletārius, from prōlēt- (“offspring”) + -ārius, from stem of prōlēs, from pro- + *olēs (“growth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“to grow, nourish”). By surface analysis, Latin prōlēt- + -ary + -at.