Vocabulary Words #3 (Honors Option)

bourgeoisie- In general, the middle class. Applied to the Middle Ages, it refers to townspeople, who were neither nobles nor peasants. In Marxism it refers to those who control the means of production and do not live directly by the sale of their labor. Karl Marx distinguished between the “haute” (high) bourgeoisie (industrialists and financiers) and the “petite” (small or “petty”) bourgeoisie (shopkeepers, self-employed artisans, lawyers). Marxism postulates a fundamental conflict between the interests of the bourgeoisie and those of the propertyless workers, the proletariat.


proletariat- the class of wage earners, esp. those who earn their living by manual labor or who are dependent for support on daily or casual employment; the working class.

stop-loss- designed or planned to prevent continued loss, as a customer's order to a broker to sell a stock if its price declines to a specific amount.

elucidate- to provide clarification; explain.


elusive- eluding clear perception or complete mental grasp; hard to express or define: an elusive concept.

profligate- utterly and shamelessly immoral or dissipated; thoroughly dissolute.

chasm- a deep opening in the earth's surface


fulminate- to explode with a loud noise; detonate


ostentatious- characterized by or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others: an ostentatious dresser.

obfuscate- to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.