A caste is a social group that people are born into and usually cannot leave, which can strongly affect their role, occupation, and status in society for their entire lives. In a caste system, your family's caste can decide what work you do, who you can marry, and how others treat you, regardless of your talents, efforts, or character.

The most famous example is India's historical caste system, which divided society into distinct groups: priests and scholars at the top, then warriors and rulers, then merchants and farmers, and finally laborers. Below these were people considered “untouchable,” who faced severe discrimination. While India officially abolished this system in 1950, its effects still influence some communities today.

Caste differs from social class because you usually cannot change your caste through hard work, education, or achievement. In a society with social classes, a talented student from a poor family might become a doctor or business owner. In a rigid caste system, that same student would likely be trapped in their birth group's traditional role, no matter how capable they were.

The word sometimes appears in phrases like “the caste system” or discussions of rigid social hierarchies. When someone describes a system as “caste-like,” they mean it unfairly locks people into categories based on birth that are very hard or impossible to change.