as in masses
people looked down upon as ignorant and of the lowest class
the Bolsheviks believed that Russia's discontented proletariat made that nation ripe for revolution
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Recent Examples of proletariat
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
See All Example Sentences for proletariat
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
See All Example Sentences for proletariat
Recent Examples of Synonyms for proletariat
Noun
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That’s something that certainly showcases a semblance of how the populace might react.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2025
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For Bass, her speech was about more than just reassuring a disquieted populace and workforce.—
Julia Wick,
Los Angeles Times,
21 Apr. 2025
Noun
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There was little-to-no doubt Jurgen Klopp’s side were going to defeat Ralf Rangnick’s under-interim-management rabble that day.—
Carl Anka,
The Athletic,
4 Jan. 2025
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Advertisement From start to finish, pure madness, amid a rabble that never calmed, never quieted, never quit.—
Bill Plaschke,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Oct. 2024
Noun
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The issue has long divided the Jewish Israeli public, especially during the 20-month war in the Gaza Strip.—
Melanie Lidman,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2025
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Then in 1984, after helping take Westwood One public as its president, Levine decided to sell his shares in the firm and leave the company.—
Giacomo Tognini,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2025
Noun
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By the numbers As of Friday (June 13), there are 7 people aboard the International Space Station: commander Takuya Onishi of JAXA, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers and Jonny Kim of NASA and Kirill Peskov, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky of Roscosmos, all flight engineers.—
Robert Z. Pearlman,
Space.com,
14 June 2025
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Her tour is a celebration of country music, while spotlighting the complex truth: Black people helped build the genre and are still ostracized today.—
Caché McClay,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Proletariat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/proletariat. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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