Dictionary

underclass en · NOUN

Pronunciation

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Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *-tér Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Indo-European *h₂én Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi ? Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- English class English underclass From under- + class.

Meanings

1. The poorest class of people in a given society.
   • The two are immediately caught up in a terrorist plot to rid the earth of its underclass, and this gives Nobby the chance to live out a James Bond fantasy of Englishness, with his own lager-swilling twist. 2016 February 23, Robbie Collin, “Grimsby review: ' Sacha Baron Cohen's vital, venomous action movie'”, in The Daily Telegraph (London):
   • Still, among New York’s creative underclass — cash poor but culturally potent — it feels like everything but socialism is now irrelevant. 2019 March 3, Simon van Zuylen-Wood, “When Did Everyone Become a Socialist?”, in New York Magazine:
   • While there are reasons to be optimistic about this trend, there is also something queasy about the emergence of a new underclass of urban servants. 2019 August 12, Derek Thompson, “America's Hot New Job Is Being a Rich Person's Servant”, in The Atlantic:

Forms

Deriveds

underclasser · underclassness · permanent underclass · underclasswoman · underclassperson

Relateds

subculture