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:
How could anyone treasure something so gauche in this bougie travel era of lie-flat seats and $1,000 a night hotels, right?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Jeannine Souza, a self-described bougie traveler, used to avoid Spirit because of its no-frills reputation.
From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026
"And all the whilst he was doing this, he was going on like really crazy bougie holidays and spending crazy amounts of money that probably wasn't his."
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 2025
Turns out, the dog was just being picky, as he later scarfed down a bougie natural formula.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2025
I wanna show you that I could be bougie, too.
From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi
Treatment of Pulsion Diverticulum.—If the pouch is small, the subdiverticular esophageal orifice may be dilated with esophagoscopic bougies, thus overcoming the etiologic factor of spastic or organic stenosis.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Chevalier Jackson
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
Thermic bouginage with electrically heated bougies has been found useful in some cases by Dean and Imperatori.
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
If the passage of bougies with the object of dilating the stricture is difficult or impossible, it may be made easier or possible by getting a silk thread through the stricture.
From Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition. by Alexander Miles
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.
