bourgeoisie

[boo r-zhwah-zee; French boor-zhwa-zee] /ˌbʊər ʒwɑˈzi; French bur ʒwaˈzi/
noun
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.
Origin
1700-10; < French; see bourgeois1, -y3
Examples from the web for bourgeoisie
  • The quandary faced by the colonial bourgeoisie is probably a bit beyond the audience of this book.
  • These dogs are the bourgeoisie of the canine world, and they expect to be treated as such.
  • Rich bourgeoisie were able to spend lavishly on construction.
  • Only the bourgeoisie are overwhelmingly obsessed to meet, rub shoulders and party with white society.
  • The bourgeoisie were the square, practical ones.
  • The only people who romanticize the lower classes are mentally bankrupt trustafarians or hypocritical members of the bourgeoisie.
  • Now that's really showing your contempt for the bourgeoisie.
  • The birth of the bourgeoisie brought access and pretensions of taste to a much larger swath of humanity.
  • Artists rebelled against the stodgy mores of the bourgeoisie.
  • It's the haute bourgeoisie who have a problem with her-they're jealous of her.
British Dictionary definitions for bourgeoisie

bourgeoisie

/ˌbʊəʒwɑːˈziː/
noun the bourgeoisie
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
Word Origin and History for bourgeoisie
n.

1707, "body of freemen in a French town; the French middle class," from French bourgeois, from Old French burgeis, borjois (12c.) "town dweller" (as distinct from "peasant"), from borc "town, village," from Frankish *burg "city" (see borough). Communist use for "the capitalist class generally" attested from 1886.

bourgeoisie in Culture
bourgeoisie [(boor-zhwah-zee)]

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.