social class

noun

plural social classes

: a group of people sharing the same social or socioeconomic status : class sense 2a

The well-to-do WTUL [=Women's Trade Union League] volunteers who joined striking New York City shirtwaist workers in 1909 had used their elegant attire to convey the fact that no woman, whatever her social class, could ignore the hardships endured by clothing workers in America.

—Ellen Cain

Her research explores the use and abuse of diversity and inclusion policy as a form of reputation management, and how social class influences access to and career progression within 'elite' occupations.

—Queen Mary University of London

The eight women denied being witches, but Mary was believed. She was 18, pretty, educated and from a higher social class.

—Martina Devlin

Examples of social class in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In Italy, even clientele’s social class has transitioned. —John Hopewell, Variety, 26 Sep. 2024

His next book, School of Woke, compared the oppressed–oppressor binary supposedly taught in American schools with the Cultural Revolution’s Black and Red categories of disfavored and favored social classes. —Yiyun Li, Harper's Magazine, 23 Oct. 2024

By highlighting the divide between different social classes and religions, the film reveals how the chance to heal from trauma varies — some can recover, while others are left to cope day by day. —Leo Barraclough, Variety, 26 Sep. 2024

In 1932: Mahatma Gandhi initiated a six-day hunger strike to protest the stratification of India’s social classes. —The Arizona Republic, 16 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1794, in the meaning defined above