Lumpen
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A member of the lumpenproletariat.
"In Sydorenko's memorable words: "Our ideals as 'lumpens' are: to find a cozy place, to eat well, to multiply and to die peacefully. A 'lumpen' does not have a nationality, nor does he have a fatherland. Nor conscience. He remains beyond politics and morality.""
- 1 To make or become like lumps; make or become lumpy ambitransitive, rare
"They had chicken soup with the matzo meal balls a little lumpened by hurry, challah, roast chicken, kasha, honey-cake."
- 1 Of or relating to social outcasts.
"A little lumpen novelita. [Story of orphaned teenagers turning to crime.]"
- 2 Lump-like. not-comparable
"[About prominent critics lambasting his film 2001:] New York was the only really hostile city. Perhaps there is a certain element of the lumpen literati that is so dogmatically atheist and materialist and Earth-bound that it finds the grandeur of space and the myriad mysteries of cosmic intelligence anathema."
- 3 Of or relating to the lumpenproletariat.
- 4 Plebeian.
- 1 mentally sluggish wordnet
Example
More examples"A little lumpen novelita. [Story of orphaned teenagers turning to crime.]"
Etymology
Shortened from German Lumpenproletariat, from Lump (“a contemptible person”) + Proletariat.
From lump + -en (adjectival suffix).
From lump + -en (verbal suffix).
More for "lumpen"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.