bougie
1 Americanadjective
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Sometimes Disparaging. relating to or characteristic of a person who indulges in some of the luxuries and comforts of a fancy lifestyle.
He spends too much on bougie stuff he can’t afford.
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Often Disparaging and Offensive. Also bourgie relating to or characteristic of a person who aspires to the upper middle class, especially when regarded as being elitist or snobbish.
The bougie folks all left the old neighborhood and bought houses out there where their kids'll go to “good schools,” whatever that means.
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relating to or characteristic of a person who flaunts newly acquired wealth without necessarily embracing the cultural values and pretensions of the upper middle class.
that bougie feeling when you’re drinking high-end champagne—out of a red plastic cup.
noun
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bougies
plural
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Medicine/Medical.
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a slender, flexible instrument introduced into passages of the body, especially the urethra, for dilating, examining, medicating, etc.
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a suppository.
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a wax candle.
noun
Sensitive Note
Bougie is often used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting, depending on the cultural or social context of its use. It originated as slang in the African American community, used disparagingly to describe wealthier or upwardly mobile people, usually other Black people, who were seen to be socially pretentious. It is now also used as a term of mild censure, referring in general to people who have expensive tastes.
Usage
Spelling tips for bougie The slang term bougie comes from a shortening and alteration of the word bourgeois, which is even harder to remember how to spell. How to spell bougie: Bougie is also sometimes spelled boujee, boujie, and boojie, but bougie is the most common spelling. Boogie is a different word altogether. To remember the vowel sequences in bougie (o-u, i-e), just remember this question: “Oh, you think I’m bougie, i.e. too fancy?”
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of bougie1
An Americanism dating back to 1965–70; shortening and alteration of bourgeois 1 ( def. )
Origin of bougie2
First recorded in 1745–55; from French, after Bougie (from Arabic Bujāyah ), town in Algeria, center of the wax trade
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Jeannine Souza, a self-described bougie traveler, used to avoid Spirit because of its no-frills reputation.
From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026
“It’s definitely the big buzzword in every bougie exercise class,” said Los Angeles-based yoga instructor Kyle Miller.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Gou would have felt equally at home playing in Grand Slam Oval, a patch which feels like an Ibiza beach club throughout the tournament due to a thumping sound system and bougie lounge bars.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
“Places can be very bougie when it comes to skincare. I feel like those places tend to be pretty judgmental,” said Preciado as his skin began to tighten into scale-like formations as the paste dried.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025
“You’re cool, Georgia, but your family is bougie as hell,” I say.
From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi
M. M. The perpetual use of bougies, either of catgut or of caoutchouc.
From Zoonomia, Vol. II Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Erasmus Darwin
It was one of those abominable bougies with holes in them to economise the wax, and which consequently had less than the proper amount of material for feeding and maintaining a flame.
From A Book of Ghosts by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould
For the use of bougies of the larger sizes, the special esophagoscopes with both the light-carrier canal and the drainage canal outside the lumen of the tube are needed.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Chevalier Jackson
As soon as the œsophagus has healed, say in three or four weeks, bougies should be passed every three or four days to prevent cicatricial contraction.
From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles
The strictured lumen is to be centered in the esophagoscopic field, and three successively increasing sizes of bougies are used under direct vision.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Chevalier Jackson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
