bougie

Meaning

Noun

1. A tapered cylindrical instrument for introducing an object into a tubular anatomical structure, or to dilate such a structure, as with an esophageal bougie.
2. A wax candle.

Adj

1. (slang) Behaving like or pertaining to people of a higher social status, middle-class / bourgeois people (sometimes carrying connotations of fakeness, elitism, or snobbery).
2. (slang) Fancy or good-looking, without the same connotations of snobbery or pretentiousness as in sense 1.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbuːʒi/

Etymology

Borrowed from French bougie (“wax candle”), after the Algerian city Bougie (Béjaïa), and the tapered, hand-dipped candles it made. The medical instruments were originally made from waxed linen.