petit-bourgeois
Comfortable but conventional
Petit-bourgeois, borrowed from French, describes the lower middle class—small shopkeepers, minor officials, and others who own modest property or run small businesses.
The term carries strong connotations of narrow-mindedness, materialism, and conventional values, especially in Marxist and left-wing discourse where it suggests someone more concerned with respectability and small gains than with broader social change.
His petit-bourgeois anxieties about property values annoyed his more radical friends.
It functions as both adjective and noun.
Small store manager
- artisanSkilled manual tradesperson
- tradesmanSkilled manual worker
- proprietorBusiness holder
- self-employedWorking independently, not hired
clerk · merchant · retailer · craftsman · storekeeper · vendor · lumpenproletariat · proletariat
Regional or narrow-minded
- parochialNarrow in perspective
- insularNarrow in outlook
- narrow-mindedIntolerant of differing views
- small-townLimited local outlook
hidebound · conformist · philistine · unimaginative · unadventurous · blinkered · myopic · closed-minded
Moral and social worthiness
- proprietyCorrectness of conduct
- decorumFitting social conduct
- strait-lacedExcessively proper and strict
- moralisticProne to lecturing others
prudish · staid · orthodox · traditionalist · conservative · conformity · decency · domesticity
One who works diligently
- respectabilityMoral and social worthiness
- pretentiousFalsely grand or important
- aspirationalStriving toward ideals
- genteelAffectedly polite or refined
affected · airs · snobbish · status-seeking · self-improvement · ambitious · arriviste · parvenu
Desiring material gain
- possessionsThings one owns
- propertySomething owned or inherent
- ownershipLegal right of possession
- accumulationCollected mass over time
thrift · savings · security · consumerism · homeownership · comfortable · penny-pinching · hoarding
shopkeeper
Small store manager
- artisanSkilled manual tradesperson
- tradesmanSkilled manual worker
- proprietorBusiness holder
self-employed · clerk · merchant · retailer · craftsman · storekeeper · vendor · lumpenproletariat · proletariat · landlord
provincial
Regional or narrow-minded
- parochialNarrow in perspective
- insularNarrow in outlook
- narrow-mindedIntolerant of differing views
small-town · hidebound · conformist · philistine · unimaginative · unadventurous · blinkered · myopic · closed-minded · reactionary
respectability
Moral and social worthiness
- proprietyCorrectness of conduct
- decorumFitting social conduct
- strait-lacedExcessively proper and strict
moralistic · prudish · staid · orthodox · traditionalist · conservative · conformity · decency · domesticity · orderliness
striver
One who works diligently
- respectabilityMoral and social worthiness
- pretentiousFalsely grand or important
- aspirationalStriving toward ideals
genteel · affected · airs · snobbish · status-seeking · self-improvement · ambitious · arriviste · parvenu · wannabe
acquisitive
Desiring material gain
- possessionsThings one owns
- propertySomething owned or inherent
- ownershipLegal right of possession
accumulation · thrift · savings · security · consumerism · homeownership · comfortable · penny-pinching · hoarding · frugality
petit-bourgeoisproletarian
Wage laborer, no capital
working-class · aristocratic · lumpenproletariat · capitalist · peasant
petit-bourgeoisbohemian
Artistic nonconformist type
revolutionary · avant-garde · countercultural · nonconformist · aristocratic
petit-bourgeoiscapitalist
Private ownership supporter
industrialist · magnate · tycoon · plutocrat · corporate