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lumpen definition

lum·pen (lo̵om′pən; E lum′-)

adjective

designating or of persons or groups regarded as belonging to a low or contemptible segment of their class or kind because of their unproductiveness, shiftlessness, alienation, degeneration, etc.

Etymology: shortened < lumpenproletariat < Ger, lowest level of the proletariat: coined (1850) by Karl Marx < lumpen-, trashy (< lump, scoundrel, ragamuffin, lit., rag < MHG lumpe: see limp) + proletariat, proletariat

noun pl. lumpen lum·pen

such a person or group

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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