Pronunciation guide
How to pronounce bourgeois
boorzh-WAH (US) or BORZH-wah (UK); the 'g' is a soft 'zh' and the 's' is silent
US/bʊɹʒˈwɑː/
bʊɹʒwɑː
UK/ˈbɔːʒ.wɑː/
bɔːʒwɑː
New to IPA symbols? Read the IPA guide.
Common mistake
Not 'BOR-jois' or 'boo-JOYS'; it is two syllables, 'boorzh-WAH'.
What “bourgeois” means
The middle class.
An individual member of the middle class.
In a sentence
- The middle class and the bourgeoisie alike faced new social changes.
- As a member of the bourgeois, he favored conservative economic policies.
Definitions and examples are derived from Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, then edited by QuickPronounce. Pronunciation data draws on CMUdict.