proletarian
Common laboring citizen
A proletarian is a member of the working class—someone who earns wages through labor rather than owning capital or property.
The term carries Marxist associations, where proletarians are distinguished from the bourgeoisie who control the means of production.
As an adjective, proletarian describes things relating to or characteristic of workers: proletarian solidarity, proletarian neighborhoods.
The word can sound dated or deliberately political in casual speech.
Person who toils
- laborerPhysical task performer
- toilerOne who works hard
- manual workerOne who labors physically
- employeeHired organizational member
workforce · blue-collar · craftsperson · artisan · journeyman · apprentice · operative · piecework
Manual laborers as group
- underclassLowest socioeconomic group
- commonerNon-noble person
- plebeianOrdinary, unrefined person
- massesBulk or populace
peasantry · rank-and-file · blue-collar · subaltern · caste · hierarchy · socioeconomic · demography
Capitalist ownership class
- class consciousnessAwareness of economic group identity
- means of productionTools and facilities for manufacturing
- surplus valueProduction minus wages paid
- exploitationSelfish use of others
alienation · capitalism · communism · revolution · false consciousness · hegemony · Marxism-Leninism · Maoism
Industrial production facility
- millGrain-crushing facility
- foundryMetal casting facility
- forgeFurnace for shaping metal
- workshopPlace for making or learning
assembly line · manufacturing · plant · machinery · mass-production · industrialization · steelworker · miner
Violent governmental overthrow
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- strikeForceful impact or stoppage
- protestPublic expression of disapproval
oppression · exploitation · rebellion · class conflict · agitation · demonstration · radicalism · insurgency
Mutual loyalty among companions
- brotherhoodKinship among men
- unityWholeness through cohesion
- collectivismGroup primacy doctrine
- fellowshipMutual goodwill among companions
union · cooperation · mutual aid · camaraderie · organized labor · trade union · syndicate · workers' council
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- impoverishedExtremely lacking in money
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
- privationLack of necessities
squalor · penury · indigence · marginalization · inequality · disenfranchisement · slum · tenement
worker
Person who toils
- laborerPhysical task performer
- toilerOne who works hard
- manual workerOne who labors physically
employee · workforce · blue-collar · craftsperson · artisan · journeyman · apprentice · operative · piecework · shiftwork
working-class
Manual laborers as group
- underclassLowest socioeconomic group
- commonerNon-noble person
- plebeianOrdinary, unrefined person
masses · peasantry · rank-and-file · blue-collar · subaltern · caste · hierarchy · socioeconomic · demography · populace
bourgeoisie
Capitalist ownership class
- class consciousnessAwareness of economic group identity
- means of productionTools and facilities for manufacturing
- surplus valueProduction minus wages paid
exploitation · alienation · capitalism · communism · revolution · false consciousness · hegemony · Marxism-Leninism · Maoism · Trotskyism
factory
Industrial production facility
workshop · assembly line · manufacturing · plant · machinery · mass-production · industrialization · steelworker · miner · docker
revolution
Violent governmental overthrow
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- strikeForceful impact or stoppage
protest · oppression · exploitation · rebellion · class conflict · agitation · demonstration · radicalism · insurgency · barricades
comradeship
Mutual loyalty among companions
- brotherhoodKinship among men
- unityWholeness through cohesion
- collectivismGroup primacy doctrine
fellowship · union · cooperation · mutual aid · camaraderie · organized labor · trade union · syndicate · workers' council · soviet
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- impoverishedExtremely lacking in money
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
privation · squalor · penury · indigence · marginalization · inequality · disenfranchisement · slum · tenement · want
- communismMarx, Marxism, Leninism, Lenin, Engels
- class labelsaristocrat, beggar, bourgeois, commoner, elite
- class struggleclass conflict, class warfare, class divide, class struggle, class consciousness
- commonerscommoner, commoners, peasant, peasants, common people
- class revoltrevolutionary, revolt, uprising, rebel, insurgent
- Everymanaverage Joe, everyman, common man, regular Joe, regular guy
proletarianbourgeois
Middle-class and conventional
bourgeoisie · capitalist · owner · proprietor · employer
proletarianrefined
Purified or cultured
sophisticated · cultivated · highbrow · cultured · elegant
proletarianaristocratic
Of hereditary nobility
aristocrat · patrician · noble · upper-class · highborn
- the proletariatWage-earning labor class
- proletarian revolutionWorkers overthrowing the ruling class
- dictatorship of the proletariatLaboring class governing authority