bourgeois

¹ American  

[boor-zhwah, boor-zhwah, boo-zhwah, boor-zhwa] / bʊərˈʒwɑ, ˈbʊər ʒwɑ, ˈbu ʒwɑ, burˈʒwa /

adjective

1. having, reflecting, or relating to conventional tastes, opinions, and values believed to be determined mainly by a concern for respectability and material wealth; middle-class.

   He lived a bohemian lifestyle frowned upon by bourgeois morality.

   Bored with bourgeois suburbia and starved for authenticity, these progressive millennials are eager to participate in something challenging and important.

2. belonging to, characteristic of, or consisting of the middle class, especially as viewed in Marxist theory; concerned with ownership of property and maintenance of the status quo, and having or catering to interests opposed to those of the lower or working class.

   Soviet propaganda treated Democrats and Republicans as interchangeable parts of a bourgeois power structure.

---

noun

plural

bourgeois

1. a person with conventional or banal tastes and opinions believed to be determined mainly by a concern for respectability and material wealth.

   In this movie he portrays a stuffy bourgeois who plays golf and reads all the right business magazines.

2. a member of the middle class, especially as viewed in Marxist theory.

3. a shopkeeper or merchant.

bourgeois ² American  

[ber-jois] / bərˈdʒɔɪs /

noun

Printing.

1. a size of type approximately 9-point, between brevier and long primer.

---

Bourgeois ³ American  

[boor-zhwah, boor-zhwah, boo-zhwah, boor-zhwa] / bʊərˈʒwɑ, ˈbʊər ʒwɑ, ˈbu ʒwɑ, burˈʒwa /

noun

1. Léon Victor Auguste 1851–1925, French statesman: Nobel Peace Prize 1920.

2. Louise, 1911–2010, U.S. sculptor, born in France.

---

bourgeois ¹ British  

/ bʊəˈʒwɑː, bʊəˈʒwɑːz, ˈbʊəʒwɑː, ˈbʊəʒwɑːz /

noun

1. a member of the middle class, esp one regarded as being conservative and materialistic or (in Marxist thought) a capitalist exploiting the working class

2. a mediocre, unimaginative, or materialistic person

---

adjective

1. characteristic of, relating to, or comprising the middle class

2. conservative or materialistic in outlook

   a bourgeois mentality

3. (in Marxist thought) dominated by capitalists or capitalist interests

Bourgeois ² British  

/ burʒwa /

noun

1. Léon Victor Auguste . (leɔ̃ viktɔr oɡyst). 1851–1925, French statesman; first chairman of the League of Nations: Nobel peace prize 1920

---

bourgeois ³ British  

/ bəˈdʒɔɪs /

noun

1. (formerly) a size of printer's type approximately equal to 9 point

---

Other Word Forms

• bourgeoise noun

Etymology

Origin of bourgeois¹

First recorded in 1555–65; from Middle French; Old French borgeis burgess

Origin of bourgeois²

First recorded in 1815–25; perhaps from a printer so named

Example Sentences

A born entertainer who had no ideology to sell or bourgeois morality to promote, he gravitated to theater as the most exhilarating form of debate.

From Los Angeles Times

“Jesus Christ Superstar” reminds us that Lloyd Webber wasn’t always a symbol of the bourgeois establishment.

From Los Angeles Times

She’s all but doomed to be bourgeois and neurotic, as if a juvenile court has sentenced her to live in a New Yorker cartoon.

From Los Angeles Times

"They let you know if they're getting bored. It's not bourgeois polite and that appeals to me."

From BBC

The first sentence of the plot synopsis in the booklet reads: “The more bourgeois, the more unfulfilled.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• materialistic
• middle-class