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It's a word I've barely heard of, though I did write a post about it two years ago ( "A fancy way to say 'fancy'" [9/22/24] — with lengthy, learned discussion in the comments). Yet this morning it turns up at the top of " America's most misspelled words in 2026 " (5/22/26)!

No wonder, given its etymology:

From bourgeoisie .

( slang , usually derogatory ) Behaving like or pertaining to people of a higher social status, middle-class / bourgeois people ( sometimes carrying connotations of fakeness , elitism, or snobbery ) . Synonyms: chichi , classy , high and mighty , ritzy , saditty , snobby , snooty , posh

( UK , Canada , slang ) Fancy or good-looking , without the same connotations of snobbery or pretentiousness as in sense 1.

alternative forms: bourgie , boojie , boujee , boujée

( Wiktionary )

Mark's question still stands: what happened to the 'r' on the way from bourgeois to bougie ?

Selected readings

" Minimal pair " (6/14/11) — bijou

" A trilingual, biscriptal…