petit bourgeois

[ puh-tee boor-zhwah; pet-ee boor-zhwah, boor-zhwah; French puh-tee boor-zhwa ]

noun

, plural pe·tits bour·geois [p, uh, -, tee, b, oo, r-, zhwahz, pet, -ee , boor, -zhwahz, b, oo, r-, zhwahz, p, uh, -tee boo, r, -, zhwa].

1. a person who belongs to the petite bourgeoisie.

petit bourgeois

/ pəti burʒwa; ˈpɛtɪ ˈbʊəʒwɑː /

noun

1. Also calledpetite bourgeoisiepetty bourgeoisie the section of the middle class with the lowest social status, generally composed of shopkeepers, lower clerical staff, etc
2. a member of this stratum

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the petit bourgeois, esp indicating a sense of self-righteousness and a high degree of conformity to established standards of behaviour

Other Words From

• pe·tit-bour·geois adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of petit bourgeois¹

Borrowed into English from French around 1855–60

Example Sentences

He is the petit bourgeois, the picier, the class which the world ridicules.

From Project Gutenberg

To think that you, a watchmaker and a petit bourgeois, should experience what many a saint has died without realizing!

From Project Gutenberg

The cabanon is really the maison de campagne of the petit bourgeois of the cities and towns.

From Project Gutenberg

It is their nave and faithful representation of the life of the Parisian petit bourgeois that seems to Brne so admirable.

From Project Gutenberg

There were no jarring notes or lavish, tawdry display, the pitfalls into which the parvenue and petit bourgeois invariably fall.

From Project Gutenberg