The working class or the working classes are the group of people in a society who do not own much property, who have low social status, and who do jobs which involve using physical skills rather than intellectual skills.
A quarter of the working class voted for him.
...increased levels of home ownership among the working classes.
Working class is also an adjective.
...a self-educated man from a working class background.
The group is mainly black, mainly working-class.
working class in British English
noun
1. Also called: proletariat
the social stratum, usually of low status, that consists of those who earn wages, esp as manual workers
Compare lower class, middle class, upper class
adjectiveworking-class
2.
of, relating to, or characteristic of the working class
working-class in British English
or working class (ˌwɜːkɪŋˈklɑːs)
adjective
of, relating to, or characteristic of the working class
a self-educated man from a working-class background
working class in American English
workers as a class; esp., industrial or manual workers as a class; proletariat
Derived forms
working-class (ˈworkˌing-class)
adjective
Examples of 'working class' in a sentence
working class
We were meant to be discussing whether the political classes had ignored the white working class.
The Sun (2008)
Where did the working classes live in eighteenth-century London?
Marius, Richard A Short Guide to Writing About History (1995)
He had planned a career in medieval history, but soon switched to focus on the history of the German working class.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The Tory vote in the 1950s included a big chunk of the Unionist, Protestant working class.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It was the urbanised working classes who first fought for rambling rights to explore the countryside on their days off during the 19th century.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
I was brought up in a working-class family.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
I come from a very working-class background.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
These will undoubtedly have been of great interest to my fellow white working-class fathers.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Both my parents came from working-class backgrounds.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
We are from a working-class family and we know what it is like to have something taken away from you.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
I come from a fairly working-class background and my parents were sending me at great cost and sacrifice.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
These are mainly working-class students.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
People with working-class backgrounds should be able to get through, but they are priced out now.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
He look at the conflicting imperatives of his working-class background and his middle-class present.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
We were a working-class family and my mam and dad didn't have a whole lot of money.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
I come from a working-class background.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
So you might wonder why I should be so interested in white working-class youth.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
I was brought up by a good working-class family who were very, very hard workers.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
No. I come from a working-class background but we always had money to put food on the table.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In other languages
working class
British English: working-class /ˈwɜːkɪŋklɑːs/ ADJECTIVE
If you are working-class, you are a member of the group of people in a society who do not own much property, who have low social status, and who do jobs which involve using physical skills rather than intellectual skills.
...a self-educated man from a working-class background.