According to Karl Marx' political and economic theory, the bourgeoisie is the leading social class in a society that oppresses the working class, the proletariat, for their own enrichment. The bourgeoisie is primarily characterized by the fact that they own the means of production.
The word is generally used by intellectuals and leftist groups to describe the rich, elitist upper class, usually in a negative way.
French word which means Middle Class. Mostly used during the French Revolution. Was a legal category in society; defined by incone, social setting, also: nouveau riche.
Karl Marx attacked bourgeois political theory. Demonstrated clearly in The Communist Manefesto.
Another word for 'new money'. The real bourgeoisie were more middle class than new money, but the divide that separated the serfs from the bourgeoisie, nobility, clergy and royals was very large.
In pre-revolutionary France, the bourgeoisie were the lawyers and accountants, working for the aristocracy, clergy and monarch.