bourgeois

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise
  2. noun a member of the middle class
  3. adjective (according to Marxist thought) being of the property-owning class and exploitive of the working class

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French bourgeois (“a class of citizens who were wealthier members of the Third Estate”), from Old French burgeis (“town dweller”), from Frankish *burg, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold; city”) (whence borough). Doublet of burgess; compare also burgish.

In classic literature

Synonyms

businessperson

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