1. to reduce (a person or group) to the status of a proletarian; to cause to become a member of the working class
Usage: transitive verb; often used in historical or political contexts

Examples

• Industrial capitalism tended to proletarianize skilled craftsmen who lost their independence.
• The factory system helped proletarianize rural workers who migrated to cities.
• Economic policies that proletarianize the middle class often spark political unrest.
• Automation threatens to proletarianize white-collar professionals in some sectors.
• Historians debate whether colonialism proletarianized indigenous populations or simply exploited them differently.