middle class

[ mid-l klas ]
See synonyms for: middle classmiddle classes on Thesaurus.com

noun
  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.

  1. any intermediate class.

Origin of middle class

1
First recorded in 1760–70

Words Nearby middle class

Other definitions for middle-class (2 of 2)

middle-class
[ mid-l-klas, -klahs ]

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the middle class; bourgeois: middle-class taste; middle-class morality.

Origin of middle-class

2
First recorded in 1890–95

Other words from middle-class

  • middle-classness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use middle class in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for middle class

middle class

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

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for middle class

middle class

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.

Notes for middle class

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

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.