PRECARIAT Definition & Meaning

precariat

[ pri-kair-ee-uht ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the class of people whose income is so irregular or insecure as to adversely affect both their material and psychological well-being:
Once a corporate executive, now a struggling freelancer, he was wholly unprepared to join the precariat.

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of precariat¹

First recorded in 1955–60; blend of precar(ious) ( def ) and (proletar)iat ( def ); salariat ( def )

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The art business puts the precariat and the bourgeoisie in proximity, which can certainly breed resentment.

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"So we have tens of millions of people in the precariat economy that are just vulnerable to whatever is going to happen next because our political system is so plutocratic, rotten and nasty," said Sachs.

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But as a group they are far removed from people, the majority of Americans, who experience true economic vulnerability and a feeling of being the precariat.

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The “deaths of despair” that disproportionately afflict white blue-collar and precariat workers have not fallen under Trump; with more than 70,000 drug overdose deaths in 2019, this American carnage continues.

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Yet again, the academic precariat finds itself at a disadvantage.

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