bourgeoisie

[ boor-zhwah-zee; French boor-zhwa-zee ]

noun

1. Usually the bourgeoisie. in Marxist theory, the powerful capitalist class that owns and is concerned with property, as contrasted with the wage-earning class, which must concern itself with survival: the interests of the bourgeoisie are opposed to revolution and invested in the status quo:

   According to Marx, the rise of the bourgeoisie split the whole of society into two enemy camps—the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

   Many postcolonial societies in the 21st century are hindered by greedy and repressive bourgeoisies.

2. Usually the bourgeoisie. the middle class, made up mainly of entrepreneurs, managers, professionals, and skilled office workers, and often characterized as having conventional tastes and values and prizing respectability:

   The pleasure park was for the entertainment of the little town's bourgeoisie on summer evenings, with a dance hall, a gazebo, and other attractions.

   These mass-produced postcards of exotic places were intended for consumption by a white, urban bourgeoisie back home.

bourgeoisie

/ ˌbʊəʒwɑːˈziː /

noun

1. the middle classes
2. (in Marxist thought) the ruling class of the two basic classes of capitalist society, consisting of capitalists, manufacturers, bankers, and other employers. The bourgeoisie owns the most important of the means of production, through which it exploits the working class

bourgeoisie

1. 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 (see also 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 (see also proletariat ).

Notes

“Bourgeois” may also refer to mediocre taste or to the flashy display of wealth by the nouveau riche .

Word History and Origins

Origin of bourgeoisie¹

First recorded in 1700–10; from French; equivalent to bourgeois ¹ + -y ³

Example Sentences

Painting Laszlo as some mascot for the self-involved petty bourgeoisie would be easy to do if Berry’s performance didn’t smash all expectations.

From Salon

“It’s designed to create a society that’s further dominated by the bourgeoisie. It’s ruling class population control.”

From Seattle Times

"Before the MFM, the struggle on China's cultural front was a struggle between the new culture of the bourgeoisie and the old culture of the feudal class," he wrote.

From Salon

A daughter of Washington, D.C.’s Black bourgeoisie, Horn often attired herself in furs and white gloves, but she could outlast even the hardiest barfly as the night wore on.

From New York Times

Ms. Gilchrist, who published some 26 books — novels, collections of short stories, poetry and memoirs — was known for her sharp, lightly ironic dissections of the class from which she came, the Southern upper bourgeoisie.

From New York Times