class enemy

English

Etymology

Calque of German Klassenfeind.

Noun

class enemy (plural class enemies)

1. (Marxism) The enemy of a class, in particular the working class.
   • 2025 September 13, Simon Kuper, “How Maga rewrote the Little Red Book”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 18:

     Like the Communist party before it, the Front National claimed to speak for the “working class”. The class enemy was rebranded from “bourgeoisie” to “elite”, communist xenophobia about “international capital” was supplemented with xenophobia against immigrants, and the proletariat had to ally with former adversaries such as small business owners, but the essential claim of working-class dignity remained intact.