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
Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 9 May 2025
Joining Glasper and the headliners will be a mix of legendary and burgeoning talent, including Lupe Fiasco, Big Daddy Kane, Willow, Saba, Hiatus Kaiyote, Esperanza Spalding, Little Brother, and others.
—Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 7 May 2025
In Diálogos do Dia e da Noite, Paulino revisits archetypes, female bastions, goddesses or guides encountered in her ongoing series Senhora das Plantas (Lady of Plants) series, evolving with limbs burgeoning into tree roots, hair flourishing as leaves, or fingers blooming into flowers.
—Natasha Gural, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
This burgeoning ecosystem, moreover, is being actively fed by a growing number of start-ups, effectively leading to a democratization of the country's defense sector.
—Ilan Berman, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for burgeon
Cite this Entry
“Burgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burgeon. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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burgeon
verb
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