bourgeoise

American  

[boor-zhwahz, boor-zhwahz, boor-zhwaz] / ˈbʊər ʒwɑz, bʊərˈʒwɑz, burˈʒwaz /

noun

• bourgeoises
  plural

1. a female member of the bourgeoisie.

   As a bourgeoise herself, it was her constant policy to elevate and extend the influence of the middle classes.

   The simpler clothes marked her out as a working-class woman rather than a bourgeoise.

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adjective

1. (of a woman, women's concerns, etc.) 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.

   The movie has to do with careers, fashion, and emotional relationships among mostly idle, rich, bourgeoise females.

   The two women promptly joined corporate law firms, got plastic surgery, and are now enjoying a perfectly wonderful bourgeoise lifestyle.

2. (of a woman, women's concerns, etc.) belonging to, characteristic of, or consisting of members 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.

   The romance between these revolutionary youths and bourgeoise women was motivated by a longing for a life of danger.

   Socialist critics called the activist Women's Club a bourgeoise organization.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bourgeoises
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bourgeoise

First recorded in 1755–65; from French; feminine of bourgeois ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bourgeoise bourgeoises

It wasn’t long after the student riots in Paris, a time of hippies and revolutionaries, and the film was a celebration of freedom in a world of bourgeoise hypocrisy.

From New York Times ● Feb. 28, 2020

Yet as we exited Paris and headed deeper and deeper into “green, bourgeoise France,” the rush of scenery out the window was much as he described.

From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2018

Its vision of a Dorothy stripped of her bourgeoise pretensions and placed in an Oz that looked a lot like, well, the real New York City made it a multiple-Tony-winning hit.

From Time ● Dec. 3, 2015

But the undying contradiction of "Threepenny Opera" is that it bites the hand of the politically blasé bourgeoise while also tickling it.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2011

The ambitious bourgeoise throned it for the second time at the Ministry of the Interior, and the Queen groaned in captivity in the Temple tower.

From Marie Antoinette and the Downfall of Royalty by Arthur Léon, baron Imbert de Saint-Amand

These were two bourgeoises with the deprecating, mistrustful air peculiar to commonplace the world over.

From In and out of Three Normady Inns by Anna Bowman Dodd

But the women were either hopelessly bourgeoises or slightly déclassée.

From The Big Drum A Comedy in Four Acts by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero

Ladies, bourgeoises, seamstresses, and cooks, were required to form what was called the chain of Equality.

From The French Revolution - Volume 3 by John Durand

That night he went to the theatre, but his thoughts were not for the elegantly gowned daughters of respectable bourgeoises who disported themselves for his amusement.

From High Noon A New Sequel to 'Three Weeks' by Elinor Glyn by Anonymous

When they were bourgeoises they were so extremely bourgeoises; when they were smart they were so excessively snob.

From Bird of Paradise by Ada Leverson