leisure class
Those who needn't toil
The leisure class is a social stratum wealthy enough to live without working.
The term implies not just wealth but conspicuous idleness—time spent on recreation, travel, and cultural pursuits rather than productive labor.
Economist Thorstein Veblen coined the phrase in 1899 to analyze how the rich display status through deliberate non-work: The leisure class summers in the Hamptons while everyone else commutes.
- rentierLives on investment income
- aristocracyRule by hereditary elite
- gentryHighborn but not noble
- conspicuous consumptionFlaunting wealth through purchases
- nobilityTitled ruling class
affluence · idleness · grand tour · finishing school · ennui · dilettante · dandyism · luxury · unearned income · wealth · elite · drone · privilege · status · yachting · polo match · nouveau riche · opulence
- classessuperclass, underclass, caste, tier
- social classstratum, bourgeoisie, proletariat, underclass, elite
- social classesnobles, aristocrats, underclass, peasants, elite
- aristocracylord, titles, lady, heraldry, noble titles
- French leisurepetanque, boules, cafe culture, bistros, French cafes
- leisure historysports history, gaming history, park history, theater history, Olympic history
leisure classworking class
Manual laborers collectively
working poor · wage earners · proletariat · underclass · manual laborers
leisure classunderclass
Lowest socioeconomic group
lower class · servant class · peasantry · common people · the masses
leisure classproletariat
Laborers lacking capital ownership
working class · labor force · industrial workers · service workers
class, leisure, classical, classic, classy, classified, classify, leisurely, classes