bourgeois
1having, reflecting, or relating to conventional tastes, opinions, and values believed to be determined mainly by a concern for respectability and material wealth; middle-class: He lived a bohemian lifestyle frowned upon by bourgeois morality.Bored with bourgeois suburbia and starved for authenticity, these progressive millennials are eager to participate in something challenging and important.
belonging to, characteristic of, or consisting of the middle class, especially as viewed in Marxist theory; concerned with ownership of property and maintenance of the status quo, and having or catering to interests opposed to those of the lower or working class: Soviet propaganda treated Democrats and Republicans as interchangeable parts of a bourgeois power structure.
a person with conventional or banal tastes and opinions believed to be determined mainly by a concern for respectability and material wealth: In this movie he portrays a stuffy bourgeois who plays golf and reads all the right business magazines.
a member of the middle class, especially as viewed in Marxist theory.
a shopkeeper or merchant.
Origin of bourgeois
1Words Nearby bourgeois
Other definitions for bourgeois (2 of 3)
a size of type approximately 9-point, between brevier and long primer.
Origin of bourgeois
2Other definitions for Bourgeois (3 of 3)
Lé·on Vic·tor Au·guste [ley-awnveek-tawroh-gyst], /leɪˈɔ̃ vikˈtɔr oʊˈgyst/, 1851–1925, French statesman: Nobel Peace Prize 1920.
Louise, 1911–2010, U.S. sculptor, born in France.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use bourgeois in a sentence
This book is nearly encyclopedic in its accounting of the pleasures of modern bourgeois American life.
bourgeois said that the actions taken to limit the reach of the term “Stop the Steal” in the election’s immediate aftermath were temporary.
Facebook’s Sandberg deflected blame for Capitol riot, but new evidence shows how platform played role | Elizabeth Dwoskin | January 13, 2021 | Washington PostRenoir, Matisse, Picasso and Cézanne were considered formalistic and bourgeois artists.
Irina Antonova, grande dame of Russian cultural life, dies at 98 | Emily Langer | December 4, 2020 | Washington PostAt the same time, he was drawn to the work of future Nobel laureate André Gide, who rebelled against bourgeois conventions and wrote of sensual fulfillment.
Daniel Cordier, French Resistance hero, dies at 100 | Phil Davison | November 23, 2020 | Washington PostGurugram, a bustling tech and finance center on the outskirts of New Delhi, encapsulates the fast-paced capitalism and bourgeois aspirations of a new town.
India’s glittering Gurugram remains a model of how not to build a new city | Manavi Kapur | October 10, 2020 | Quartz
Part of that bourgeois dream involved white people getting to live out their fantasies of having black servants.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal | Olivia Nuzzi | December 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTMany historians have leveled criticism at the Code, arguing that it was too conservative and supportive of the bourgeois.
Diaspora always meant tragedy; you think you can be a good German bourgeois, but that way lie the death camps.
Jonathan Pollard Means Israeli-American Squabbling Instead of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiation | Raphael Magarik | July 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTI confess to being surprised at the reaction to yesterday's article on the boring, bourgeois future of gay marriage.
That's right, I said it: this is a landmark victory for the forces of staid, bourgeois sexual morality.
Why Gay Marriage Will Win, and Sexual Freedom Will Lose | Megan McArdle | March 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTDespite his own grief, he is sorry for the young man; nor is he convinced in his shrewd bourgeois mind of the latter's guilt.
Uncanny Tales | VariousYou will see a family of rich bourgeois enter, just in from the country, for the Montparnasse station is opposite.
The Real Latin Quarter | F. Berkeley SmithTo his bourgeois mind, for all his imitation of the Chicago martyr, my words must have sounded knavish.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander BerkmanIt outrages me that even a bourgeois should so meanly misjudge the aspirations of an active revolutionist.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander BerkmanHe was somewhat inclined to sybaritism; not quite emancipated from the tendencies of his bourgeois youth.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander Berkman
British Dictionary definitions for bourgeois (1 of 3)
/ (ˈbʊəʒwɑː, bʊəˈʒwɑː) often derogatory /
a member of the middle class, esp one regarded as being conservative and materialistic or (in Marxist thought) a capitalist exploiting the working class
a mediocre, unimaginative, or materialistic person
characteristic of, relating to, or comprising the middle class
conservative or materialistic in outlook: a bourgeois mentality
(in Marxist thought) dominated by capitalists or capitalist interests
Origin of bourgeois
1Derived forms of bourgeois
- bourgeoise (ˈbʊəʒwɑːz, bʊəˈʒwɑːz), fem n
British Dictionary definitions for bourgeois (2 of 3)
/ (bəˈdʒɔɪs) /
(formerly) a size of printer's type approximately equal to 9 point
Origin of bourgeois
2British Dictionary definitions for Bourgeois (3 of 3)
/ (French burʒwa) /
Léon Victor Auguste . (leɔ̃ viktɔr oɡyst). 1851–1925, French statesman; first chairman of the League of Nations: Nobel peace prize 1920
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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