bourgeoisie

bour·geoi·sie | \ ˌbu̇(r)zh-ˌwä-ˈzē

How to pronounce bourgeoisie (audio)

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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 bourgeois entry 2 sense 2)

Examples of bourgeoisie in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Her family was part of both the Roman bourgeoisie, with its obsessive manners, and the country’s ramshackle aristocracy. — New York Times, "The Empress of East Second Street," 3 Dec. 2020 Both Donald Trump and Boris Johnson represent social types—self-promoting real estate tycoon, haute-bourgeoisie braggart—that were well represented in Britain’s eighteenth-century House of Commons. — Rana Dasgupta, Harper's Magazine, "The Silenced Majority," 24 Nov. 2020 First published in 1948, this novel by a member of the Harlem Renaissance satirizes the Black bourgeoisie; its heroine escapes her sharecropper roots by marrying an entrepreneur and strives to distance herself from her lower-caste neighbors. — New York Times, "New & Noteworthy, From the Harlem Renaissance to a History of Magic," 3 Nov. 2020 Around the turn of the 20th century, Prada’s grandfather established the company, which became known for selling small leather goods and objets trouvés to the bourgeoisie. — Laird Borrelli-persson, Vogue, "“The Cliché of Beauty, the Cliché of Luxury, the Cliché of Banality”—On In Vogue: The 1990s, Miuccia Prada Says Basta to All That," 16 Oct. 2020 Tired of the world’s shams, the hypocrisies of class, and the shallowness of the bourgeoisie, the sailor returns, quite literally, to the sea. — J. Hoberman, The New York Review of Books, "Self-Made Men," 6 Oct. 2020 The latest film from Netflix is about fighting back against gentrification and the bourgeoisie—just like Dracula before it. — Emma Grey Ellis, Wired, "Vampires vs. the Bronx Is a Kids' Movie About Class Warfare," 2 Oct. 2020 The book was about a young boy who helped the Red Army fight the bourgeoisie during the Russian Civil War. — Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, "Orlando Arts Season Preview 2020-21: Visual Art," 22 Sep. 2020 The graft spawned a leftist bourgeoisie in Venezuela that splurged on luxuries from opulent Miami lofts to castles in Spain. — Kejal Vyas, WSJ, "Oil Industry Is Fading Away in Land of the World’s Richest Reserves," 4 Sep. 2020

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.

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Last Updated

14 Dec 2020

Cite this Entry

“Bourgeoisie.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bourgeoisie. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.

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