The classes of lower-C1,α functions (0 < α ≤ 1), that is, functions locally representable as a maximum of a compactly parametrized family of continuously differentiable functions with α-H ̈older derivative, are hereby introduced. These classes form a strictly decreasing sequence from the larger class of lower-C1 towards the smaller class of lower-C2 functions, and can be analogously characterized via perturbed con- vex inequalities or via appropriate generalized monotonicity properties of their subdifferentials. Several examples are provided and a complete classification is given.