bourgeoisie

noun bour·geoi·sie \ ˌbu̇(r)zh-ˌwä-ˈzē \

|Updated on: 30 Jul 2018

Definition of bourgeoisie

1 : middle class

members of the bourgeoisie

; also plural in construction : members of the middle class

how the bourgeoisie are represented in the novel

2 : a class or group of people with social behavior and political views held to be influenced by private-property interest : a social order dominated by capitalists or bourgeois (see ²bourgeois 2)

See bourgeoisie defined for English-language learners

See bourgeoisie defined for kids

Recent Examples of bourgeoisie from the Web

Having it all District VII would have been a grand place to be in 1910, when the city’s grand bourgeoisie rubbed elbows with louche literati.

— j.s. marcus, WSJ, "The Best of Budapest: A Guide for Strategic Travelers," 27 June 2018
All these high places, the upper class or the bourgeoisie … all of this Western construct is falling apart.

— catherine annie hollingsworth, miamiherald, "New voices showcased in Miami Light Project's Here & Now: 2018," 3 June 2018
The association of the nobility attracted the Dutch bourgeoisie to the format in the 17th century.

— cath pound, New York Times, "When the Old Masters Were the P.R. Agents of the Rich and Powerful," 14 Mar. 2018
Meticulousness was a virtue among Philadelphia’s black bourgeoisie, the anxious world into which Locke was born.

— tobi haslett, The New Yorker, "The Man Who Led the Harlem Renaissance—and His Hidden Hungers," 11 May 2018
However, in a Marxist revolution, the proletariat will come together to overthrow the bourgeoisie and ultimately, win the class conflict by taking control over their work, or striking.

— danielle corcione, Teen Vogue, "Who Is Karl Marx: Meet the Anti-Capitalist Scholar," 10 May 2018
But social housing undermined the position of landlords, and the bourgeoisie felt targeted by taxes on conspicuous consumption.

— patrick iber, The New Republic, "How neoliberalism shapes the global economy and limits the power of democracies," 23 Apr. 2018
This, of course, caused even more fury among the bourgeois, who hated the vision of France and French bourgeoisie that Sartre’s novels and new journal were projecting back at them.

— Longreads, "When Sartre and Beauvoir Started a Magazine," 10 Apr. 2018
The bourgeoisie elite have finally given the black man from Chicago a seat at the table.

— emilia petrarca, The Cut, "What Does a ‘Dream Job’ in Fashion Even Mean?," 30 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bourgeoisie.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.