bourgeois

²bour·geois

noun
\ˈbu̇rzh-ˌwä also ˈbu̇zh- or ˈbüzh- or bu̇rzh-ˈ\

plural bour·geois \-ˌwä(z), -ˈwä(z)\

Definition of BOURGEOIS

1

a : burgher b : a middle-class person

2

: a person with social behavior and political views held to be influenced by private-property interest : capitalist

3

plural : bourgeoisie

Examples of BOURGEOIS

1. For many, Nietzsche has always been a bugaboo, though some regard him as an heroic destroyer of idols, the invigorating voice of skepticism, and a revealer of those embarrassing actualities that the pieties and protestations of the bourgeois have customarily concealed. —William H. Gass, Harper's, August 2005
2. With exceptions like Rousseau, the philosophes were elitists. They enlightened through noblesse oblige in company with noblemen, and often with a patronizing attitude toward the bourgeois as well as the common people. —Robert Darnton, The Kiss of Lamourette, 1990

Origin of BOURGEOIS

(see ¹bourgeois)

First Known Use: circa 1674

Other Sociology Terms

ethos, eugenics, exurb, incommunicado, intelligentsia, megalopolis, metrosexual, mores, subculture

Rhymes with BOURGEOIS

aba, Accra, aha, Allah, amah, Armagh, Artois, ayah, Bekaa, brava, chamois, Chechnya, Chita, chutzpah, compas, Degas, dolma, Dubois, Dunois, éclat, fa la, faux pas, fellah, Fermat, feta, foie gras, gaga, galah, Galois, goombah, grandma, grandpa, ha-ha, halvah, Hama, hoo-ha, hoopla, Hsia, hurrah, huzzah, Konya, Makah, Marat, markka, Maurois, mirepoix, mudra, Oita, oompah, opah, Oujda, quinoa, paisa, pasha, patois, pooh-bah, prutah, pya, Sanaa, sangfroid, selah, Seurat, Shema, Shoah, sol-fa, supra, Syrah, ta-ta, tola, Tonghua, Ufa, Utah, Vaudois, viva, voilà, wah-wah, whoopla