Class
authority - bourgeoisie - classification - elite - high class - low class - power - peasant - proletariat - society - working class culture
Social class
Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. While anthropologists, historians and sociologists identify class as a social structure emerging from pre-history, the idea of social class entered the English lexicon about the 1770s. Social classes with more power usually subordinate classes with less power. Social classes with a great deal of power are usually viewed as elites, at least within their own societies. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class [Mar 2006]
Parvenu
A person who has suddenly risen to a higher social and economic class and has not yet gained social acceptance by others in that class. --American Heritage DictionaryRelated words are: arriviste, nouveau-riche, upstart.