Herman Wouk
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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.
Examples of burgeon in a Sentence
Simone McCarthy, CNN, 11 Mar. 2025
Today, this would prove especially problematic for the burgeoning AI industry, which requires semiconductors in massive volumes to power data centers.
—Chad P. Bown, Foreign Affairs, 11 Mar. 2025
It was intended primarily for export to the burgeoning industrial cities of England.
—Fintan O'Toole, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025
The celebratory gala honors Asian and Pacific Islander women and non-binary artists, cultural creators, and decision-making power brokers, from the highest levels of achievement in Hollywood to burgeoning talent.
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 8 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Burgeon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burgeon. Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.
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burgeon
verb
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