nonelites
The general populace
Nonelites are people who lack wealth, power, or social status—the ordinary majority as opposed to privileged upper classes.
The term appears in academic and political writing that analyzes society in terms of class divisions: The tax policy disproportionately burdens nonelites.
It emphasizes structural inequality by explicitly naming those outside elite circles.
Bulk or populace
- commonersOrdinary citizens, untitled
- populaceInhabitants of a place
- multitudeVery large number
- proletariatLaborers lacking capital ownership
plebeians · rank-and-file · grassroots · working-class · citizenry · electorate · voters · majority
Widespread and unremarkable
- ordinaryStandard, unremarkable
- lowbornOf humble origin
- unprivilegedLacking advantages or entitlements
- unrankedLacking official standing
untitled · baseborn · humble · modest · ignoble · undistinguished · unconnected · powerless
masses
Bulk or populace
proletariat · plebeians · rank-and-file · grassroots · working-class · citizenry · electorate · voters · majority · public
common
Widespread and unremarkable
- ordinaryStandard, unremarkable
- lowbornOf humble origin
- unprivilegedLacking advantages or entitlements
unranked · untitled · baseborn · humble · modest · ignoble · undistinguished · unconnected · powerless · voiceless
noneliteselites
Privileged powerful groups
the elite · aristocracy · aristocrats · upper class · nobility
nonelitesrulers
Measuring straightedges; sovereigns
ruling elite · power elite · power brokers · oligarchs · decision-makers
nonelitesplutocrats
Rulers through financial power
economic elite · moguls · magnates · tycoons · the one percent