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BOURGEOIS
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A member of the middle class
Synonyms:
bourgeois; burgher
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("bourgeois" is a kind of...):
common man; common person; commoner (a person who holds no title)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bourgeois"):
petit bourgeois (a member of the lower middle class)
Holonyms ("bourgeois" is a member of...):
bourgeoisie; middle class (the social class between the lower and upper classes)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise
Synonyms:
bourgeois; businessperson
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("bourgeois" is a kind of...):
capitalist (a person who invests capital in a business (especially a large business))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bourgeois"):
accountant; comptroller; controller (someone who maintains and audits business accounts)
account executive; account representative; customer's broker; customer's man; registered representative (someone in charge of a client's account for an advertising agency or brokerage or other service business)
agent; broker; factor (a businessman who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission)
businessman; man of affairs (a person engaged in commercial or industrial business (especially an owner or executive))
businesswoman (a female businessperson)
enterpriser; entrepreneur (someone who organizes a business venture and assumes the risk for it)
exporter (a businessperson who transports goods abroad (for sale))
importer (someone whose business involves importing goods from outside (especially from a foreign country))
merchandiser; merchant (a businessperson engaged in retail trade)
shipper (someone who ships goods)
provider; supplier (someone whose business is to supply a particular service or commodity)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Belonging to the middle class
Classified under:
Similar:
middle-class (occupying a socioeconomic position intermediate between those of the lower classes and the wealthy)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class
Example:
a bourgeois mentality
Synonyms:
bourgeois; conservative; materialistic
Classified under:
Similar:
middle-class (occupying a socioeconomic position intermediate between those of the lower classes and the wealthy)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(according to Marxist thought) being of the property-owning class and exploitive of the working class
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
capitalist; capitalistic (favoring or practicing capitalism)
Context examples:
"Surely you don't desire the approval of the bourgeois swine that read the newspapers?"
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It was on a par with all the rest that Brissenden had condemned in bourgeois society.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
These bourgeois cities will kill you.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
At first, so great was his disgust with the magazines and all bourgeois society, Martin fought against publicity; but in the end, because it was easier than not to, he surrendered.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
"Oh, these bourgeois! When I was broke, I was not fit to be seen with his sister. When I have a bank account, he brings her to me."
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The audacity and unconventionality of the storiettes was a shock to bourgeois morality and prejudice; but when Paris went mad over the immediate translation that was made, the American and English reading public followed suit and bought so many copies that Martin compelled the conservative house of Singletree, Darnley & Co. to pay a flat royalty of twenty-five per cent for a third book, and thirty per cent flat for a fourth.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
