Marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity

Hi,

¹bourgeois
2 : marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity
[M-W's Col. Dic.]

What does the bold part mean?

Someone or something that is bourgeois is often a bit mediocre.



Clive

I assume 'mediocrity' is used in the sense of 'ordinary' and 'average'. A person who is bourgeois will have a tendency toward superiority, not mediocrity, because he is a materialistic person.

Do you get what I'm trying to say?

Jackson6612¹bourgeois
2 : marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity
[M-W's Col. Dic.]

What does the bold part mean?

Of all the definitions of "bourgeois" I've ever encountered this is the first time I've seen one that claims it means "a tendency toward medioc

Hi,

In my experience, the term 'bourgeois' is used today primarily as a pejorative. If one says someone is 'bourgeois', one is saying a negative thing about them.

I assume 'mediocrity' is used in the sense of 'ordinary' and 'average'. My dictionary offers a second meaning of 'mediocre' as 'second-rate', and I would say this is the more common meaning.



A person

"marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity"

The bourgeoisie were the French middle class. The link with mediocrity is 'medium', or 'median', meaning 'average' or ordinary.

The suggestion is that a borgeois person is not going to be outstanding in any field of human endeavour, but just another average middle-class person.