proletariat
noun
Synonyms
Examples of proletariat in a Sentence
Matthew Desmond, The New York Review of Books, 28 Dec. 2023
In this way, Du Bois argued in his seminal 1935 work, Black Reconstruction, white elites in the United States had created a double proletariat divided by a racial line.
—Zachariah Mampilly, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2022
Their butler, Adams, is a proletariat.
—Wayne Catan, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2022
Because the exploited—the proletariat—have nothing to fall back on, nowhere further to sink, their liberation would be the liberation of history from class struggle.
—James Robins, The New Republic, 19 Jan. 2023
Now a college degree is the most reliable indicator of Democratic preference; the proletariat is dependably Republican.
—Gerard Baker, WSJ, 9 Jan. 2023
The numerically ascending service proletariat is frankly irrelevant in setting the terms of debate in our polity.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 20 Jan. 2013
The early republican army was one of freeborn citizens, and even after the Marian reforms which opened up the army to the proletariat the Roman legions were draw from the citizenry.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 6 Jan. 2013
Compared with Marxism’s promised revolution of the proletariat, adjusting tariff schedules looked like an awfully weak solution.
—Jon Grinspan, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Dec. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'proletariat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
French prolétariat, from Latin proletarius
1847, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing proletariat
Dictionary Entries Near proletariat
Cite this Entry
“Proletariat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proletariat. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
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proletariat
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on proletariat
Nglish: Translation of proletariat for Spanish Speakers
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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about proletariat
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