bougie

1 of 3

adjective

bou·​gie ˈbü-ˌzhē 

variants or less commonly boujee

ˈbü-ˌjē 

or bourgie

ˈbu̇r-ˌzhē,

ˈbü-ˌzhē 

bougier also boujier or bourgier; bougiest also boujiest or bourgiest

informal + usually disparaging : marked by a concern for wealth, possessions, and respectability : bourgeois

Soothing rhythms after midnight, theme songs to lucky affairs, shotgun weddings, and bougie proms, the fodder for adventurous crooners on amateur night at the Apollo …

—Michael A. Gonzales

After college, [writer Colson Whitehead] stopped going out to Sag Harbor much. "It was too bourgie," he said.

—Charles McGrath

bougie

2 of 3

noun (1)

variants or less commonly bourgie

plural bougies also bourgies

informal + usually disparaging

: a middle-class person : bourgeois

Of course, it may have occurred to Garber that people who summer in charming Nantucket houses, as she does, ought not to throw stones at wasteful bougies.

—Zoe Heller

bougie

3 of 3

noun (2)

bou·​gie ˈbü-ˌzhē  -ˌjē 

plural bougies

1

: a wax candle

2

a

: a tapering cylindrical instrument for introduction into a tubular passage of the body

b

: suppository

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

bourge(ois) entry 1 + -y entry 1

Noun (2)

French, from Bougie, seaport in Algeria

First Known Use

Adjective

1968, in the meaning defined above

Noun (1)

1966, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1732, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

bougie

noun

bou·​gie ˈbü-ˌzhē  -ˌjē 

1

: a tapering cylindrical instrument for introduction into a tubular passage of the body

2

: suppository

Geographical Definition

Bougie

geographical name

see bejaïa