lower classes
Society's bottom rungs
The lower classes are the segment of society with the least wealth, education, and social standing.
The term implies a hierarchical view of society divided into strata—upper, middle, and lower—based primarily on economic position.
Housing policies that displaced the lower classes from urban centers.
The phrase can sound clinical or condescending; working class often substitutes when emphasizing labor and dignity over rank.
- commonersOrdinary citizens, untitled
- common folkOrdinary members of society
- plebsLower social orders
- massesBulk or populace
- hoi polloiThe common masses
proletariat · peasantry · working poor · hand to mouth · have-nots · blue-collar · salt of the earth · laborers · underprivileged · domestic workers · below stairs · third estate · struggle · disadvantaged · social exclusion · serfs · factory workers · classism
lower classesupper classes
Society's most privileged strata
upper class · aristocracy · elite · ruling class · nobility
lower, class, lowest, lowered, lowering, lowlife, lowers, lowercase, lower-class