bourgeois
5
8.2
- noun
- /bʊrʒˈwɑː/
- Unlike the old "petty bourgeois," these men were not self-employed and controlled no productive property.
- petit bourgeois
- petty bourgeois
Examples
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I think we've had enough of this bourgeois.
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As Mamdani has argued, there is "nothing liberal or bourgeois about the organisation of authority in the rural areas."
Academic text (1993) -
So how does the bourgeois see the the human being?
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"I object that you are such a bourgeois."
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For, in fact, the social credibility of each bourgeois was at stake there.
Academic text (1995) -
First, they both were from bourgeois families and technically they both started their careers on the same day.
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Today they are for the most part Belmonte's petits bourgeois: clerks, shopkeepers, teachers, and successful farmers.
Academic text (1990) -
The sociologist Barrington Moore once flatly asserted, "No bourgeois, no democracy."
Academic text (2012) -
Moreover, the rejection of a smug Protestant ethic may mask an elitist contempt for bourgeois striving.
Academic text (1996) -
Many bourgeois work hard to achieve their goals and improve their living standards.
Synonyms
1
8.1
A woman from the middle class who values good manners and culture
Antonyms
Compounds
- Slur
2
9.6
A person from the lower middle class who cares about respect and having nice things
1
7.2
A middle-class way of living that values comfort, being respected, and material things
How Pretentious
Surface Forms
Etymology
Bourgeois comes from the old French bourg, meaning 'town', and you can see the same root in English borough or burg. A bourgeois was originally a 'town' person who owned a shop or property, so today it means a member of the 'middle class'.