Word.ws English Dictionary

Lazarus layer

Lazarus layer noun: an impoverished segment of society that may be forced by necessity to work for a low wage.

Noun

Lazarus layer (plural Lazarus layers)

  1. (Marxism) An impoverished segment of society that may be forced by necessity to work for a low wage.
    • Newly proletarianized workers were available to be exploited, while 'Lazarus layers' of the unemployed kept down wages, making production more profitable.1972, Ralph Miliband, John Saville, The Socialist Register, page 188
    • Marx referred to the reserve army as the 'Lazarus layer' of labor , to be brought back to life when the supply of labor becomes low.1995, Kenneth M. Morrison, Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought, page 323

Forms of Lazarus layer

pluralLazarus layers

Questions about Lazarus layer

What does Lazarus layer mean?
Lazarus layer means an impoverished segment of society that may be forced by necessity to work for a low wage.
What part of speech is Lazarus layer?
Lazarus layer is a noun.
What is the plural of Lazarus layer?
The plural of Lazarus layer is Lazarus layers.

Words near Lazarus layer in the dictionary

  1. Lazarte
  2. Lazartes
  3. Lazarus
  4. Lazarus effect
  5. Lazarus Island
  6. Lazarus layer
  7. Lazarus layers
  8. Lazarus of Bethany
  9. Lazarus sign
  10. Lazarus species
  11. Lazarus syndrome

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Lazarus layer (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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