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
Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 22 Apr. 2026
But by the mid-Seventies, the family band was also taking a back seat to Donny’s burgeoning solo career, as well as his successful work alongside his sister, Marie.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2026
This is precisely the offer on the table with the Projeto Paradiso National Talent gathering, which just wrapped a successful third edition, held in the burgeoning film capital of Recife.
—Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 21 Apr. 2026
The research would have to extend into the professional realm to deepen these burgeoning understandings of how the dark facets of ourselves operate, suggesting even the necessity of the shadow as that might be directing our career choices through the world.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 20 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Burgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burgeon. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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burgeon
verb
