the ruling class
the ruling class — noun
1. The group of people in a society who hold political power and economic control,
The group of people in a society who hold political power and economic control, making decisions that affect everyone else.
Many believe the ruling class in the capital has little interest in helping rural communities.
collocation: the ruling class in [place]
Adaeze argued that the ruling class stays in power by controlling education and the media.
The country's ruling class faced growing protests after cutting public healthcare funding.
Minho's research examines how the ruling class uses tax policy to protect its own wealth.
A new ruling class of tech billionaires has emerged in the last twenty years.
- elite
broader term that can refer to the top group in any field, not just politics
- establishment
focuses on the existing power structure and institutions rather than the social group itself
- upper class
more about wealth and social status than direct political power
- aristocracy
refers specifically to inherited nobility, a narrower historical meaning
- working class
the group of people who do manual or industrial work for wages
- common people
ordinary citizens without special power or privilege
文法句型
the ruling class + singular verb
用法筆記
In American English the phrase takes a singular verb ('the ruling class is…'). In British English it can be either singular or plural ('the ruling class are…'). The article 'the' is used in almost all contexts.