Herman Wouk
Did you know?
Burgeon arrived in Middle English as burjonen, a borrowing from the Anglo-French verb burjuner, meaning "to bud or sprout." Burgeon is often used figuratively, as when writer Ta-Nehisi Coates used it in his 2008 memoir The Beautiful Struggle: "… I was in the burgeoning class of kids whose families made too much for financial aid but not enough to make tuition payments anything less than a war." Usage commentators have objected to the use of burgeon to mean "to flourish" or "to grow rapidly," insisting that any figurative use should stay true to the word's earliest literal meaning and distinguish budding or sprouting from subsequent growing. But the sense of burgeon that indicates growing or expanding and prospering (as in "the burgeoning music scene" or "the burgeoning international market") has been in established use for decades and is, in fact, the most common use of burgeon today.
Synonyms
Examples of burgeon in a Sentence
Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 28 Apr. 2024
Chuckwalla sits at the heart of a burgeoning ecological and economic zone — a short drive from the city of Indio and the date farms of Mecca, and near the vast mineral flats and off-grid settlements of the Salton Sea and the towering Santa Rosa Mountains.
—Tyrone Beason, Los Angeles Times, 28 Apr. 2024
But that has not stopped the 67-year-old from saying that the display of the heirloom in states Mama Hayes collected mementos from is to raise money to help defray the burgeoning national debt.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Apr. 2024
As a burgeoning actor, Chris Pine had his sights set high.
—Jen Juneau, Peoplemag, 25 Apr. 2024
Winters with perfect summer weather and burgeoning art and tech scenes provide plenty of reasons to visit.
—Amanda Hoover, WIRED, 17 Apr. 2024
The deal announced Wednesday positions a key American tech giant to have influence over the burgeoning AI sector in the UAE, amid concerns that China seeks to invest more in the region.
—Cat Zakrzewski, Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2024
Like many Western communities, Grants Pass has struggled for years with a burgeoning homeless population.
—Claire Rush, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024
Penelope was also devastated after overhearing that her crush, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) would never court her (though Season 3 focuses on their burgeoning love story).
—Jay Stahl, USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'burgeon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to burgeon
Dictionary Entries Near burgeon
Cite this Entry
“Burgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burgeon. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
burgeon
verb
Share