middle-class

Thân thiện

A young middle-class family enjoys a picnic in the park.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Occupying a socioeconomic position intermediate between those of the lower classes and the wealthy: Describing a social group characterized by moderate income, education, and professional or white-collar occupations, situated between the working class and the upper class.

Usage

• The term "middle-class" is used to describe people, families, lifestyles, values, or neighborhoods associated with this socioeconomic group.
• It typically implies a degree of financial stability, home ownership, and investment in education.
• It is commonly hyphenated when used as a compound adjective before a noun (e.g., a middle-class family). It can be written without a hyphen when used predicatively (e.g., The family is middle class).

Examples

• Adjective:
  • They live in a quiet, middle-class suburb.
  • The politician's policies are designed to appeal to middle-class voters.
  • Her parents had traditional middle-class values, emphasizing education and hard work.

Advanced Usage

• "The shrinking middle class": A common phrase in economic and sociological discussions referring to the perceived decline in the size or economic security of the middle class.

  • Many economists are concerned about the shrinking middle class.

• "Middle-class morality": Refers to a set of social values often associated with the middle class, such as propriety, moderation, and respectability.

  • The novel critiques the strictures of Victorian middle-class morality.

Variants and Related Words

• Middle class (noun phrase): The social group itself.

  • The tax cuts will benefit the middle class.

• Middle-classness (noun, rare): The quality or state of being middle-class.

• Bourgeois (adjective/noun): Often used synonymously with "middle-class," though it can carry connotations of conventionality or materialism.

Synonyms

• Bourgeois
• Mainstream
• Conventional (when referring to associated attitudes)

Antonyms

• Working-class
• Lower-class
• Upper-class
• Wealthy
• Aristocratic

Idioms and Common Phrases

• "Middle-class trap": Refers to the financial strain of maintaining a middle-class lifestyle despite stagnant wages and rising costs.

  • They are struggling with the middle-class trap, earning too much for assistance but not enough to save.

• "Aspirational middle class": Describes individuals or families striving to achieve or maintain a middle-class standard of living.

  • The government is focusing on policies to help the aspirational middle class.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. occupying a socioeconomic position intermediate between those of the lower classes and the wealthy