ruling classes

Noun

ruling class (plural ruling classes)

1. The social class within a society that holds dominant power and controls its main institutions, especially those linked to the economy, politics, and the military.
   • One thing that has always shown that the English ruling class are morally fairly sound, is that in time of war they are ready enough to get themselves killed... What is to be expected of them is not treachery or physical cowardice, but stupidity, unconscious sabotage, an infallible instinct for...1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. I & II