proletariat

[ proh-li-tair-ee-uht ]

noun

1. Usually the proletariat. in Marxist theory, the class made up of workers, especially industrial wage earners, who do not possess capital or property and must sell their labor to those who do in order to survive:

   The call of the proletariat is to overthrow the capitalist mode of production and finally abolish the whole class structure.

   A dictatorship of the proletariat is the first stage of the revolution.

2. Usually the proletariat. the class made up of wage earners, especially unskilled or semiskilled workers who earn their living by manual labor, often dependent on daily or casual employment and typically having low levels of education and disposable income; the working class.
3. the lowest or poorest class of people, possessing no property, especially in ancient Rome.

proletariat

/ ˌprəʊlɪˈtɛərɪət /

noun

1. all wage-earners collectively
2. the lower or working class
3. (in Marxist theory) the class of wage-earners, esp industrial workers, in a capitalist society, whose only possession of significant material value is their labour
4. (in ancient Rome) the lowest class of citizens, who had no property

proletariat

¹

1. A term often applied to industrial workers, particularly by followers of Karl Marx (see also Marx ).

proletariat

²

1. In Marxism, the industrial working class , people without property.

Other Words From

• pro·le·tar·i·an adjective noun
• non·pro·le·tar·i·at noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of proletariat¹

First recorded in 1850–55; from French prolétariat; equivalent to proletary + -ate ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of proletariat¹

C19: via French from Latin prōlētārius proletarian

Example Sentences

This in turn expanded political thought to include consciousness of the decrepit working and living conditions suffered by the Chinese proletariat, who after marching alongside the students on May 4 were increasingly seen as revolutionary partners rather than people who needed to be led.

From Salon

Reflecting on the events of 1919, Mao Zedong posited that the MFM marked a key step in the transition from a largely bourgeois movement to one led by the proletariat, the beginning of a revolution that would bring the Communists to power in 1949.

From Salon

California Sounds: Reggie Watts and John Tejada pair up as Wajatta with the duo’s first new track since their 2017 debut, a long-form video by Matthieu Moerlen for the Oh Sees’ psyche-rock song “Henchlock” and the video for Cola Boyy’s “All Power to the People” track, a call to action for the proletariat.

From Los Angeles Times

Fiscal support from the proletariat is great in politics; the last president to marshal it like Trump was Barack Obama.

From Seattle Times

“I consider myself politically proletariat,” he told The New York Times in 2015.

From New York Times

Related Words

• lower class