burgeon

verb

bur·​geon ˈbər-jən 

variants or less commonly bourgeon

burgeoned also bourgeoned; burgeoning also bourgeoning; burgeons also bourgeons

intransitive verb

1

a

: to send forth new growth (such as buds or branches) : sprout

b

: bloom

… when the flame trees and jacaranda are burgeoning …

—Alan Carmichael

2

: to grow and expand rapidly : flourish

The market has burgeoned in recent years.

… tiny events which burgeon into national alarums …

—Herman Wouk

Did you know?

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.

Synonyms of burgeon

• increase
• rise
• swell
• accelerate
• expand
• multiply

Examples of burgeon in a Sentence

The market for collectibles has burgeoned in recent years.

the trout population in the stream is burgeoning now that the water is clean

Recent Examples on the Web

Monroe went from notable to notorious when, in 1952, journalist Aline Mosby first reported that a pinup calendar—featuring a ravishing blonde nude spread across red velvet—was in fact a photograph of the burgeoning star. —Joshua John Miller, Vanity Fair, 9 Apr. 2026

The Atlantic season spans from June through November, and because of a burgeoning El Niño, this year’s could diverge from the active seasons of much of the past decade, according to a new forecast from hurricane researchers at Colorado State University. —Mary Gilbert, CNN Money, 9 Apr. 2026

The strikes also threatened to intensify a burgeoning humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, where a fifth of the population has been forced to flee their homes as a result of an Israeli ground offensive that Israel argues is necessary to combat Hezbollah. —Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 9 Apr. 2026

For Bravo, race has always been that lingering chink in its armor — and the latest burgeoning Summer House drama threatens to continue to chip away at the network’s feeble defense against claims of racial insensitivity. —Shamira Ibrahim, HollywoodReporter, 8 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English burjonen, from Anglo-French burjuner, from burjun bud, from Vulgar Latin *burrion-, burrio, from Late Latin burra fluff, shaggy cloth

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for burgeon

• sturgeon
• surgeon
• neurosurgeon

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Kids Definition

burgeon

verb

bur·​geon ˈbər-jən 

1

a

: to put forth new growth (as buds)

b

: bloom entry 2 sense 1

2

: expand sense 3, flourish