LOWER CLASS Synonyms: 44 Similar and Opposite Words

lower-class

adjective

ˌlō-ər-ˈklas

Definition of lower-class

as in low

belonging to the class of people of low social or economic rank they were finally earning enough to get out of the lower-class tax bracket

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of lower-class But new research is shedding light on what life was like for middle- and lower-class residents. — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 20 July 2026 The franchise centers around a dystopian nation called Panem, where rich and authoritarian leaders force twelve lower-class districts to submit two children to fight in a deadly, and televised, battle every year. — Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE, 11 July 2026 In recent years, more and more students from lower-class families have been able to attend universities. — The Atlantic, 16 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for lower-class

Adjective

Achane will also go from a QB with one of the league’s highest checkdown rates to a QB with one of the lowest.

— Jess Bryant, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
This week, Australian biotechnology company Mesolab announced that its Phase 3 trial of rexlemestrocel-L for chronic low back pain (CLBP) now moves beyond the patient-treatment stage.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of low

Adjective

Linen and cotton, cooling garments, were too plebeian; the people posed nobly for street-style social-media accounts in leather jackets and low-slung jorts.

— Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 27 June 2026
This one is about a regular old guy, a hedge knight in the plebeian population of Westeros, just trying to get by in a world that isn't kind to the common and poor.

— Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 13 Jan. 2026

Definition of plebeian

Adjective

But West Virginia is a proletarian locale that until not long ago was a Democratic stronghold.

— Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026
These ranged from the aristocratic elite who dominated the military and bureaucracy and yearned for a return to monarchy, to communists who sought proletarian rule, to the National Socialists who wanted to establish a right-wing dictatorship.

— Time, Time, 23 Oct. 2025

Definition of proletarian

Adjective

Except the A’s—who, for their part, had finished the month of July with a lowly record of 5–19—won the next game, too.

— Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 16 Aug. 2026
And the Liberty will move on to another lowly opponent — the Connecticut Sun — on Saturday.

— Fiifi Frimpong, New York Daily News, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of lowly

Adjective

On the other lies a park in one of the Bronx’s poorest communities, built on the site of the former Yankee Stadium after the old home of the Yankees was torn down in 2009 and 2010.

— Sam Blum, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2026
Iran’s economy was in a dire state before the war too, with poor economic conditions a key driving factor behind the anti-regime demonstrations which kicked off in the Iranian capital city Tehran in 2025.

— Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of poor

Adjective

But those three road losses were either in the postseason to a top-two team, at Oregon or the inexplicable 2024 loss to a far inferior Michigan team in The Game.

— Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2026
The main disagreement centers on what the union says are inferior pay scales compared with nonunion workers.

— A.D. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of inferior

Browse Nearby Words

lower

lower-class

lowered

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“Lower-class.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lower-class. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of lower-class

adjective

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