[boo
r-zhwah-zee; Fr. boor-zhwa-zee] 
| 1. | the bourgeois class. |
| 2. | (in Marxist theory) the class that, in contrast to the proletariat or wage-earning class, is primarily concerned with property values. |
| bour·geoi·sie (bŏŏr'zhwä-zē') n.
[French, from bourgeois, bourgeois; see bourgeois.] |
In general, the middle class. Applied to the Middle Ages, it refers to townspeople, who were neither nobles nor peasants. In Marxism it refers to those who control the means of production and do not live directly by the sale of their labor. Karl Marx distinguished between the “haute” (high) bourgeoisie (industrialists and financiers) and the “petite” (small or “petty”) bourgeoisie (shopkeepers, self-employed artisans, lawyers). Marxism postulates a fundamental conflict between the interests of the bourgeoisie and those of the propertyless workers, the proletariat.
Note: “Bourgeois” may also refer to mediocre taste or to the flashy display of wealth by the nouveau riche.
