DEEP DIVE

Bougie or boujee is slang for high-class, rich, or fancy. It comes from the term bourgeois, which refers to a materialistic middle class. It can be used to describe people, places, and things.

So I treat myself to brunch in a bougie cafe, and there’s two little triangles of mild cheese on the side. ‘Yum yum’ I think to myself, eating the cheese, ‘shame there’s no butter for my bread though’. I get to the end of my meal and realise I was eating whole chunks of butter.

— bigmouse strikes again 🏚🐁 (@heather_mousie) August 1, 2018

Bougie is the opposite of “ghetto” or “ratchet,” but they aren’t mutually exclusive:

Naps and s**t, bougie, still do ratchet s**t – J. Cole, “Motiv8”

Although they are often used interchangeably, there is some debate about the nuances of bougie, boujee, bourgie, and bourgeois. Boujee is often a reference to middle-class and upwardly mobile black folks.

My entry:
Bourgeois = https://t.co/W4lQBsJGuq
Bougie = blk middle class + aspirational
Boujee = blk new south fabulous, rejects aspirational https://t.co/0o6NW2g0pr

— The Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom (@tressiemcphd) January 15, 2017

My b**ch is bad and boujee
Cookin’ up dope with a Uzi –Migos, “Bad and Boujee”