Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person belonging to the middle class.
- noun A person whose attitudes and behavior are marked by conformity to the standards and conventions of the middle class.
- noun In Marxist theory, a member of the property-owning class; a capitalist.
- adjective Of, relating to, or typical of the middle class, especially in holding conventional attitudes and materialistic values.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
bourgeois . - noun A size of printing-type measuring about 100 lines to the foot, next larger than brevier and smaller than long-primer.
- noun This line is printed in bourgeois.
- noun In France, a citizen; a burgher; a man of middle rank.
- noun A small French coin of the fourteenth century.
- Belonging to or consisting of trades-people or citizens of middle rank: as, bourgeois surroundings; the bourgeois class of France.
- Wanting in dignity or refinement; common; mean.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun France. A man of middle rank in society; one of the shopkeeping class.
- noun (Print.) A size of type between long primer and brevier. See
type . - noun (Print.) See 1st
bourgeois . - noun rare A burgess; a citizen. See 2d
bourgeois .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Of or relating to the
middle class , especially itsattitudes andconventions . - adjective
Belonging to the middle class. - adjective
Conventional ,conservative andmaterialistic . - adjective Marxism Of or relating to
capitalist exploitation of theproletariat . - noun politics, collectively The
middle class . - noun rare An individual member of the middle class.
- noun A person with bourgeois values and attitudes.
- noun An individual member of the
bourgeoisie , one of the threeestates . - noun Marxism Anyone deemed to be an
exploiter of theproletariat , acapitalist .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class
- adjective belonging to the middle class
- adjective (according to Marxist thought) being of the property-owning class and exploitive of the working class
- noun a capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise
- noun a member of the middle class
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word bourgeois.
Examples
-
_Le bourgeois et sa dame_ would watch them with kindly interest, deeming it a kindness not to tell them that there were no trains after twelve; and when the lovers at last determined that they must depart, _le bourgeois_ and _la bourgeoise_ would tell them that their room was quite ready, that there was no possibility of returning to Paris that night.
-
He, for example, coined the term bourgeois, as we understand it.
Making Patriots 2001
-
She laughed heartily, teased Paul about his accent and what she called his bourgeois ideas.
The Nabob, Vol. 2 (of 2) Alphonse Daudet 1868
-
Tell a plains Indian that he has failed to steal horses from the neighboring tribe, or tell a man living in bourgeois society that he has failed to pay his bills at the neighboring grocer's, and the results are the same.
The Somnambulists 2010
-
Each, plains Indian and bourgeois, is smeared with a slightly different veneer, that is all.
The Somnambulists 2010
-
It was on a par with all the rest that Brissenden had condemned in bourgeois society.
Chapter 40 2010
-
Many true libertarians (most of whom have nothing to do with politics) still believe in bourgeois values as a guidline for thier lives.
-
To identify a given ideology and theoretical position as bourgeois, or petty bourgeois, is often valid; but it is never sufficient.
A Bland and Deadly Courtesy skzbrust 2007
-
A proprietor who had capital enough to invest in trading goods and supplies was called a bourgeois.
Champlain's Dream David Hackett Fischer 2008
-
A proprietor who had capital enough to invest in trading goods and supplies was called a bourgeois.
Champlain's Dream David Hackett Fischer 2008
sakhalinskii commented on the word bourgeois
“In bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality.�? - Karl Marx
July 30, 2008
sherry28 commented on the word bourgeois
"She's going with her new lover , a free spirit unfettered by bourgeois mores , to live in that yellow sunshine , far from the excesses of American culture ..... ." From: All we ever wanted was everything . Author: Janelle Brown . Page: 344
October 16, 2010