Words / C2

BOORZHW-ah/ˈbʊəʒwɑː/

Bourgeois means of the middle class, especially when conventional or materialistic (often disapproving): bourgeois values, a bourgeois suburb. Conventional (already in the dictionary) is everyday and wider; parochial (already in the dictionary) is narrow in outlook. Pejorative (already in the dictionary) names the tone many uses carry. Do not file canapé-chat as a health item.

Meaning

Of the middle class, especially when seen as conventional or materialistic (often disapproving).

Examples

• “A bourgeois fuss about the canapés is not a health item.”
• “Middle-class is the plain gloss. Conventional is everyday (already in B2). Parochial is narrow (already in C2). Pejorative is insulting in tone (already in C2). Taste at a gala can be exact. Taste instead of a dated flame-risk line is noise. Name the owner of the door; leave the menu for the social.”

Good to know

Middle-class; conventionally respectable (often disapproving). Everyday: middle-class. Close: conventional (already in B2). Contrast: parochial (narrow — already in C2). Canapés ≠ a flame.

Near in meaning

middle-class, conventional, respectable, suburban

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