Herman Wouk
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Burgeon arrived in Middle English as burjonen, a borrowing from the Anglo-French verb burjuner, meaning "to bud or sprout." Burgeon is often used figuratively, as when writer Ta-Nehisi Coates used it in his 2008 memoir The Beautiful Struggle: "… I was in the burgeoning class of kids whose families made too much for financial aid but not enough to make tuition payments anything less than a war." Usage commentators have objected to the use of burgeon to mean "to flourish" or "to grow rapidly," insisting that any figurative use should stay true to the word's earliest literal meaning and distinguish budding or sprouting from subsequent growing. But the sense of burgeon that indicates growing or expanding and prospering (as in "the burgeoning music scene" or "the burgeoning international market") has been in established use for decades and is, in fact, the most common use of burgeon today.
Examples of burgeon in a Sentence
John Liu, CNN Money, 5 Nov. 2025
The needles, thread and thimbles come in handy for burgeoning designers to add their own personal touch and create a bag that is truly one of a kind, according to Fendi’s official product description on the brand’s website.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 3 Nov. 2025
An emerging state, Alagoas is experiencing a buzzy momentum six decades after its most famous export, Cacá Diegues, became one of the founders of Brazil’s burgeoning Cinema Novo.
—Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 3 Nov. 2025
In their sophomore feature, burgeoning auteur Jane Schoenbrun channels everything from Méliès to Lynch, from Buffy to Donnie Darko, to set a mood that's both nostalgic and menacing.
—Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Burgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burgeon. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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burgeon
verb
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