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
Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 18 Mar. 2026
Debate over a bill that aimed to monitor the Treasure Valley’s burgeoning rat problem became a regional dispute on Tuesday as the House voted down a measure that would have enlisted the Idaho State Department of Agriculture to collect data on the invasive pests.
—Mark Dee
march 17, Idaho Statesman, 17 Mar. 2026
Still, housing costs were becoming a growing concern — particularly for musicians like Thayer who had helped build the city’s reputation as a cultural hub and burgeoning tourist destination.
—Alex Driggars, Austin American Statesman, 16 Mar. 2026
The building on Faraday Avenue is part of Davis’ burgeoning industrial corridor, where several advanced manufacturing firms already operate and where the city hopes to attract more, Yancey said.
—Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for burgeon
Cite this Entry
“Burgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burgeon. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
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burgeon
verb
