noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˌbʊə(ɹ)ʒwɑːˈziː/
Canada:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:B UH2 R ZH W AA2 Z IY1
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A class of citizens who were wealthier members of the third estate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical, uncountable, usually
Examples
For quotations using this term, see Citations:bourgeoisie.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The capitalist class.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Marxism, uncountable, usually
Examples
For quotations using this term, see Citations:bourgeoisie.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the social class between the lower and upper classes
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: middle class
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: class, stratum, social class, socio-economic class
Narrower terms: petit bourgeois, petite bourgeoisie, petty bourgeoisie
History
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French bourgeoisie, from bourgeois (“a class of citizens who were wealthier members of the Third Estate”), from bourgeois, “burghers”, i.e., townspeople.
Across languages
Translations
86 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
borgjezi
— class
Arabic:
بُرْجُوَازِيَّة
(burjuwāziyya)
— class
Armenian:
բուրժուազիա
(buržuazia)
— class
Azerbaijani:
burjuaziya
— class
Basque:
burgesia
— class
Belarusian:
буржуазі́я
(buržuazíja)
— class
Belarusian:
мяшча́нства
(mjaščánstva)
— class
Bengali:
বুর্জোয়াশ্রেণী
(burjōẇasreni)
— class
Bengali:
বুর্জোয়া
(burjōẇa)
— class
Bulgarian:
буржоа́зия
(buržoázija)
— class
Burmese:
ဘူဇွာ
(bhujwa)
— class
Catalan:
burgesia
— class
Chinese Mandarin:
資產階級 /资产阶级
(zīchǎn jiējí)
— class
Chinese Mandarin:
布爾喬亞 /布尔乔亚
(bù'ěrqiáoyà)
— class
Chinese Mandarin:
中產階級 /中产阶级
(zhōngchǎn jiējí)
— class