underclass
Poorest social stratum
The underclass is the lowest socioeconomic stratum—people persistently outside mainstream economic life through unemployment, poverty, or social marginalization.
The term emerged in discussions of urban poverty and often carries judgmental overtones, implying a group cut off from opportunity and upward mobility: policies that trap people in a permanent underclass.
Unlike working class, underclass suggests exclusion rather than just low position.
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- deprivationState of lacking necessities
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
homelessness · joblessness · unemployment · subsistence · penury · indigence · want · scarcity
Laborers lacking capital ownership
- blue-collarManual labor workforce
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
- socioeconomicRelating to income and status
- statusOne's relative position
rank · caste · bourgeoisie · elite · aristocracy · gentry · nobility · stratification
Shut out, denied entry
- disenfranchisedDeprived of voting rights
- voicelessHaving no voice
- invisibleCannot be seen
- forgottenNo longer recalled
neglected · overlooked · sidelined · outcasts · peripheral · minoritized · alienated · ostracized
Measurable difference between things
- inequityUnfair distribution or treatment
- segregationForced separation by group
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
- redliningRefusing loans by neighborhood
gentrification · systemic · structural · opportunity gap · wage gap · wealth gap · glass ceiling · social exclusion
Fixed oversimplified notion
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- scapegoatUnfairly blamed person
- vilificationAbusive condemnation of someone
shame · disgrace · labeling · bias · denigration · misconception · criminalization · dehumanization
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- deprivationState of lacking necessities
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
squalor · homelessness · joblessness · unemployment · subsistence · penury · indigence · want · scarcity · starvation
proletariat
Laborers lacking capital ownership
- blue-collarManual labor workforce
- hierarchyRanked authority structure
- socioeconomicRelating to income and status
status · rank · caste · bourgeoisie · elite · aristocracy · gentry · nobility · stratification · feudalism
excluded
Shut out, denied entry
- disenfranchisedDeprived of voting rights
- voicelessHaving no voice
- invisibleCannot be seen
forgotten · neglected · overlooked · sidelined · outcasts · peripheral · minoritized · alienated · ostracized · unheard
disparity
Measurable difference between things
- inequityUnfair distribution or treatment
- segregationForced separation by group
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
redlining · gentrification · systemic · structural · opportunity gap · wage gap · wealth gap · glass ceiling · social exclusion · two-tier
stereotype
Fixed oversimplified notion
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- scapegoatUnfairly blamed person
vilification · shame · disgrace · labeling · bias · denigration · misconception · criminalization · dehumanization · othering
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- human groupstribe, clan, caste, crowd, gang
- classessubclass, superclass, caste, tier
- social classstratum, bourgeoisie, proletariat, elite, ranks
- social classesnobles, aristocrats, peasants, elite, elites
- social rankstatus, rank, nobility, peerage, caste
underclassupper class
Wealthiest societal stratum
elite · aristocracy · ruling class · upper crust · wealthy
underclassprivileged
Having special advantages
advantaged · establishment · well-connected · empowered · enfranchised