noun
prole
PROHL/prəʊl/
A member of the working class.
The factory worker is a prole, earning a living through wage labor.
Etymology
Prole shortens proletarian, a term that moved from a member of the poorest class to a working-class person. Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four helped popularize the shortened form.
In context
you are not born an X person as you are born and reared a prole or a middle, whatever.
More examples
- In the novel, the proles live far from the ruling elite.
- He proudly calls himself a prole and defends his fellow factory workers.
- She resents being dismissed as just another prole.
Forms
prole · proles
Similar words
- proletarian
- A more formal term, especially in discussions of social class.
- worker
- Describes someone who works, without necessarily implying social class.