petit bourgeois
Small-time property owner
Petit bourgeois describes the lower middle class—small shopkeepers, minor officials, modestly successful tradespeople.
The term carries Marxist connotations, often used disparagingly to suggest narrow-minded materialism, conventional values, and anxiety about social status: His petit bourgeois obsession with respectability.
The plural is petits bourgeois.
As a noun, a petit bourgeois is a member of this class.
Small store manager
- artisanSkilled manual tradesperson
- tradesmanSkilled manual worker
- clerkOffice record-keeper
- self-employedWorking independently, not hired
proprietor · white-collar · merchant · striver · aspirational · grocer · middleman · rentier
Narrow in perspective
- provincialRegional or narrow-minded
- narrow-mindedIntolerant of differing views
- philistineArt-dismissing ignoramus
- insularNarrow in outlook
small-minded · unadventurous · mediocrity · banality · complacent · smug · self-satisfied · unimaginative
Moral and social worthiness
- proprietyCorrectness of conduct
- conformityAdherence to norms
- conventionalityAdherence to accepted customs
- decencyMoral appropriateness in behavior
prudishness · strait-laced · buttoned-up · moralistic · traditionalist · conservative · orthodox · staid
Property title holder
- mortgageSecured home loan
- semi-detachedJoined on one side
- townhouseAttached multi-floor urban residence
- neighbourhoodResidential area nearby
commuter · domestic · orderly · tidy · presentable
Desiring material gain
- possessionsThings one owns
- ostentatiousShowily excessive
- showyExcessively eye-catching
- consumerOne who acquires goods
gadgetry · tasteful · frugal · savings · property · accumulation · comfortable
shopkeeper
Small store manager
self-employed · proprietor · white-collar · merchant · striver · aspirational · grocer · middleman · rentier · functionary
parochial
Narrow in perspective
- provincialRegional or narrow-minded
- narrow-mindedIntolerant of differing views
- philistineArt-dismissing ignoramus
insular · small-minded · unadventurous · mediocrity · banality · complacent · smug · self-satisfied · unimaginative · timid
respectability
Moral and social worthiness
- proprietyCorrectness of conduct
- conformityAdherence to norms
- conventionalityAdherence to accepted customs
decency · prudishness · strait-laced · buttoned-up · moralistic · traditionalist · conservative · orthodox · staid · risk-averse
homeowner
Property title holder
- mortgageSecured home loan
- semi-detachedJoined on one side
- townhouseAttached multi-floor urban residence
neighbourhood · commuter · domestic · orderly · tidy · presentable
acquisitive
Desiring material gain
- possessionsThings one owns
- ostentatiousShowily excessive
- showyExcessively eye-catching
consumer · gadgetry · tasteful · frugal · savings · property · accumulation · comfortable
- communismMarx, Marxism, Leninism, Lenin, proletariat
- bourgeoisiemiddle class, shop owners, shopkeepers, merchants, business owners
- bourgeois fictionsocial realism, class distinctions, middle class, bildungsroman, Thomas Mann
petit bourgeoisproletarian
Wage laborer, no capital
working class · aristocrat · lumpenproletariat · ruling class · magnate
petit bourgeoisbohemian
Artistic nonconformist type
avant-garde · revolutionary · radical · nonconformist · countercultural
petit bourgeoisvanguard
Foremost position or group
militant · communist · socialist · collectivist · internationalist