1
: of or relating to dispossessed and uprooted individuals cut off from the economic and social class with which they might normally be identified
lumpen proletariat
lumpen intellectuals
2
plural lumpen also lumpens
: a member of the crude and uneducated lowest class of society
Synonyms
Examples of lumpen in a Sentence
Adjective
a kind of music that has traditionally appealed to the lumpen segment of the musical audience
Recent Examples on the Web
Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2024
Rhys spent decades, often isolated and paranoid, in lumpen houses and apartments in and out of London, before success arrived late.
—New York Times, 20 June 2022
Then the judges booted her for wearing a lumpen quilt skirt accessorized with a blow-up-doll boyfriend.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 20 Apr. 2022
Tye Sheridan gives a somewhat lumpen performance as the author’s stand-in, an aspiring writer whose family background is funky, to say the least.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Jan. 2022
The films of Sean Baker celebrate lumpen characters and communities that subsist within the cracks of America’s neoliberal landscape.
—Erik Morse, Vogue, 10 Dec. 2021
Indeed, the miniatures — lumpen clay armchairs and occasional tables that Valle arranges and rearranges inside shoebox versions of their ultimate destinations — are closer to dollhouse furniture than to showpiece renderings.
—New York Times, 9 Sep. 2021
Some collectors are leaning further into technology by amassing digital artworks, while other sets of buyers are coping by prizing ceramics, with their fragile, lumpen tactility.
—Kelly Crow, WSJ, 6 July 2021
Other labels are riffing on the shoe’s lumpen shape, and playing with proportion and puff.
—Lauren Mechling, Vogue, 30 Mar. 2021
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Adjective
Yet Empire Falls translates into a lumpen, stodgy miniseries, despite a fine central performance from Harris as a divorced diner owner with deep roots in the town and a structure that allows the past to keep informing and enriching the present.
—Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2024
Rhys spent decades, often isolated and paranoid, in lumpen houses and apartments in and out of London, before success arrived late.
—New York Times, 20 June 2022
Then the judges booted her for wearing a lumpen quilt skirt accessorized with a blow-up-doll boyfriend.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 20 Apr. 2022
Tye Sheridan gives a somewhat lumpen performance as the author’s stand-in, an aspiring writer whose family background is funky, to say the least.
—Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Jan. 2022
The films of Sean Baker celebrate lumpen characters and communities that subsist within the cracks of America’s neoliberal landscape.
—Erik Morse, Vogue, 10 Dec. 2021
Indeed, the miniatures — lumpen clay armchairs and occasional tables that Valle arranges and rearranges inside shoebox versions of their ultimate destinations — are closer to dollhouse furniture than to showpiece renderings.
—New York Times, 9 Sep. 2021
Some collectors are leaning further into technology by amassing digital artworks, while other sets of buyers are coping by prizing ceramics, with their fragile, lumpen tactility.
—Kelly Crow, WSJ, 6 July 2021
Other labels are riffing on the shoe’s lumpen shape, and playing with proportion and puff.
—Lauren Mechling, Vogue, 30 Mar. 2021
Dictionary Entries Near lumpen
Cite this Entry
“Lumpen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lumpen. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share