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bour·geoi·sie | \ ˌbu̇(r)zh-ˌwä-ˈzē 
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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 The 19th-century bourgeoisie kept country homes as a place of refuge from urban pollution or heat.
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The Economist, "Correspondent’s diary Coronavirus and the new exodus from Paris," 9 Apr. 2020 Property speculators and the bourgeoisie grabbed at old-sounding British words and bodged them together in novel hybrids, like Thorne Blae—Blue Thorn, but with artisanal grammar.
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Sam Knight, The New Yorker, "What Do the Names of British Houses Mean?," 28 Mar. 2020 The Tories and Labour almost appear to have switched places: The latter represents the bourgeoisie while the former is the party of the working man.
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Madeleine Kearns, National Review, "An Identity Crisis Hits British Politics," 26 Feb. 2020 The absurdity arises from the fact that part of Jarry’s purpose in making art was to skewer the impenetrably smug self-satisfaction of the French bourgeoisie and monied classes.
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Terry Teachout, WSJ, "Papa Dada," 5 Feb. 2020 The monocled bourgeoisie icon contained multitudes all along.
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Aj Willingham, CNN, "Mr. Peanut is dead for some reason," 22 Jan. 2020 Like Peele, Bong makes the eerie suggestion that the underclass might literally exist below the feet of the bourgeoisie.
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Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, "“Parasite” Explores What Lies Beneath," 11 Oct. 2019 In Jubilee, Tipton-Martin concentrates particularly on the black bourgeoisie, the milieu of her upper-middle-class Los Angeles childhood.
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Corby Kummer, The Atlantic, "The 5 Best Cookbooks of 2019," 11 Dec. 2019 Georgette Lacour-Gayet was born out of wedlock in Paris, the daughter of Georges Lacour-Gayet, a prominent historian, and Madeleine Léon, who was part of the Jewish bourgeoisie and 45 years younger than Lacour-Gayet.
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BostonGlobe.com, "PARIS — Georgette Elgey, a French journalist, editor, and historian best known for her six-volume history of France in the years after World War II, a project that took her nearly a half-century to complete, died on Oct. 8 in Paris. She was 90.," 24 Oct. 2019
See MoreThese 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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Time Traveler for bourgeoisie
The first known use of bourgeoisie was in 1774
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