English Explanatory Dictionary

bourgeois

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

Of or relating to the middle class (often derogatory), and their presumed overly conventional, conservative, and materialistic values.
Of or relating to the bourgeoisie, the third estate of the French Ancien Regime.
Of or relating to the capitalist class, (usually derogatory) the capitalist exploitation of the proletariat.

noun

The middle class.
An individual member of the middle class.
A person of any class with bourgeois (i.e., overly conventional and materialistic) values and attitudes.
An individual member of the bourgeoisie, the third estate of the French Ancien Regime.
A capitalist, (usually derogatory) an exploiter of the proletariat.

verb

To make bourgeois.

noun

A size of type between brevier and long primer, standardized as 9-point.

name

A surname from French.

Pronunciation

/ˈbɔːʒ.wɑː/ /ˈbʊəʒ.wɑː/ en-uk-bourgeois.ogg /bʊɹʒˈwɑː/ /ˈbʊɹʒ.wɑː/ /bʊʒˈwɑː/ /ˈbʊʒ.wɑː/ en-us-bourgeois.ogg en-au-bourgeois.ogg /bəːˈdʒɔɪs/ /bəɹˈd͡ʒɔɪs/ bər-ʹjois

Word forms

bourgeois more bourgeois most bourgeois burgeois bourgeoises bourgeoising bourgeoised

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French bourgeois (“a class of citizens who were wealthier members of the Third Estate”), from Old French burgeis (“town dweller”), from Frankish *burg, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold; city”) (whence borough). Doublet of burgess; compare also burgish.

Synonyms

square galliard

Related words

bourgeoise bourgeoisie embourgeoisement épater le bourgeois petit-bourgeois petit bourgeois petty-bourgeois petty bourgeois

Derived words

antibourgeois bobo bougie bourgeoisification bourgeoisify bourgeoisly bourgeoisness bourgie de-bourgeoisify narcobourgeois nonbourgeois postbourgeois semibourgeois unbourgeois double bourgeois

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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