Although "lumpen" is rare, it's easy to understand. If your listeners don't get it from the context, they'll probably guess that lumpen people are dressed in lumpy rags, in which case they've got the general idea and even the general etymology.

Still, it's an unkind word. Although you could use it to describe a specific real person, as in "This lumpen customer walked in with an ancient coupon ready to fight me about it," I recommend using it instead to describe fictional characters, or groups of hypothetical people: "The movie opens as the lumpen are squabbling in a dirty market." "Who is this trashy ad supposed to appeal to? The lumpen?" Here's the New York Times: "Being rich, on 'Succession,' ... is aggressively anti-fun, as if fun itself were just a tatty concept for the lumpen masses who crowd the family's amusement parks."

You could also talk about lumpen things without causing offense... probably. I mean, you'll still sound snobby. For example, you could complain about lumpen standards, lumpen tastes or pandering, or lumpen music, writing, or television.

"The store [on Black Friday] is overrun by a mob of unusually lumpen bargain hunters."
   — Glenn Kenny, New York Times, 16 November 2023

"McCandless took a strong liking to [the city of] Bullhead. Maybe it was his affinity for the lumpen, who were well represented in the community's trailer parks and campgrounds and laundromats."   
  — Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild, 1996

has this page helped you understand "lumpen"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "lumpen" without saying "the riffraff" or "hoi polloi."

try it out:

Think of a fictional series that you enjoy, preferably one with a lot of characters. Which character do you think best represents the lumpen? Why?

I'll do Futurama as an example. I think Petunia best represents the lumpen. 

Petunia: The bees are acting all crazy, like they been drinking Tang and cough syrup, or, as I call it, my Friday night. [Laughs and coughs from her cigarette smoke.]

Later:

Petunia: I saw Bigfoot crushing cars at the county fair.
Ranger Park: What you saw was Bigfoot, the monster truck.

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for April: Word Choice Chuckles!

I'll give you a snippet of text that I spotted in the wild, with a word or phrase removed. See if you can fill one in that'll give the reader a chuckle. (Here are some examples.) Be cheesy. Be punny. Get in there and make me proud.

Try this one today:

"Mind your manners, diners: restaurants are _____ing the _____ on grumpy reviewers. It is the customers who get reviewed. Buckle up, diners of London W11, and get ready for your manners to be marked out of five." 

Meaning of the missing term: "switching things up."

To see one possible answer, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. One opposite of the LUMPEN is

A. the INTELLIGENTSIA: the group of highly educated people in a certain place or society.
B. the BEAU MONDE: the group of people who live fancy, luxurious lives in some city or region.
C. the PHARISEES: the group of people who are moral, upright, or religious in a fake, showy way.

2. A Times writer described the actor Mark Wahlberg in Broken City as "a lumpen Matt Damon," by which I think he means "_____."

A. cute but mean
B. dumb but scrappy
C. heavily muscled but deeply sensitive

Answers to the review questions: 1. A 2. B From the game: "Mind your manners, diners: restaurants are turning the tables on grumpy reviewers. It is the customers who get reviewed. Buckle up, diners of London W11, and get ready for your manners to be marked out of five."   — Kate Maltby, The Guardian, 16 March 2025

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.