proletarians
The working class
Proletarians are members of the working class, especially those who labor for wages and own no property or means of production.
The term comes from Marxist theory, where proletarians stand opposite the bourgeoisie—the class that owns capital: The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.
Outside political contexts, the word sounds dated or deliberately ideological.
Capitalist ownership class
- capitalismPrivate profit-based economy
- MarxismClass-based revolutionary philosophy
- communismCollective ownership system
- socialismCommunal economic control
classism · inequality · exploitation · peasants · caste · stratification · oligarchy · aristocracy
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- sweatMoisture from skin pores
- manualWritten instructions for use
- industryEconomic production sector
- productionMaking or generating something
blue-collar · drudgery · livelihood · occupation · factory · mill · mine · piecework
Organized resistance to power
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- rebellionDefiance of established power
- activismDirect effort for reform
dissent · protest · revolution · conflict · agitation · strife · hardship · fight
Very large number
mob · collectivity · commoners · rank-and-file · populace · grassroots · downtrodden · plebeians
Group primacy doctrine
- allianceFormal union of parties
- comradeshipMutual loyalty among companions
- unificationMerging into one entity
- cooperationJoint action toward shared aims
coalition · union · syndicate · guild · brotherhood · sisterhood · internationalism · organizing
bourgeoisie
Capitalist ownership class
- capitalismPrivate profit-based economy
- MarxismClass-based revolutionary philosophy
- communismCollective ownership system
socialism · classism · inequality · exploitation · peasants · caste · stratification · oligarchy · aristocracy · oppressed
toil
Strenuous, prolonged effort
production · blue-collar · drudgery · livelihood · occupation · factory · mill · mine · piecework · backbreaking
uprising
Organized resistance to power
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- rebellionDefiance of established power
activism · dissent · protest · revolution · conflict · agitation · strife · hardship · fight · defiance
multitude
Very large number
throng · mob · collectivity · commoners · rank-and-file · populace · grassroots · downtrodden · plebeians
collectivism
Group primacy doctrine
- allianceFormal union of parties
- comradeshipMutual loyalty among companions
- unificationMerging into one entity
cooperation · coalition · union · syndicate · guild · brotherhood · sisterhood · internationalism · organizing · Internationale
proletariansbourgeoisie
Capitalist ownership class
capitalists · bourgeois · industrialists · plutocrats · ruling class
proletariansaristocracy
Rule by hereditary elite
aristocrats · nobility · nobles · elite · gentry
proletarianswealthy
Having abundant financial resources
rich · affluent · millionaires · billionaires · the one percent
- the proletariatWage-earning labor class
- proletarian revolutionWorkers overthrowing the ruling class
- dictatorship of the proletariatLaboring class governing authority