middle class

¹ American  

[mid-l klas] / ˈmɪd l ˈklæs /

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.

3. any intermediate class.

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middle-class ² American  

[mid-l-klas, -klahs] / ˈmɪd lˈklæs, -ˈklɑs /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the middle class; bourgeois.

   middle-class taste; middle-class morality.

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middle class British  

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

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adjective

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

middle class Cultural  

1. 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.

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

Other Word Forms

• middle-classness noun

Etymology

Origin of middle class¹

First recorded in 1760–70

Origin of middle-class¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Over the past 30 years, most of the industry’s expansion has come from a swelling middle class who bought Louis Vuitton handbags and Rolex watches to try to keep up with the superwealthy.

From The Wall Street Journal

A home is one of the biggest purchases most people make in their lives, and it’s a major investment for most of the middle class.

From MarketWatch

The American middle class encompasses a broad cross section of workers that includes white-collar office employees, nurses and plumbers, although there is no universally accepted definition.

From The Wall Street Journal

Christianity continues to grow in China, especially among the urban middle class.

From The Wall Street Journal

"When a luxury house looks at a new country, it considers the number of wealthy people and the rise of a middle class," Epinay said.

From Barron's