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burgeon

/ˈbɜːrdʒən//ˈbɜːdʒən/·verb
Animated scene
Fig. 1 — A bare branch, bud after bud set along it.
01Definition

To burgeon is to grow and flourish fast — to break out into rapid, abundant growth. It began literally, from Anglo-French burjuner, 'to bud or put out shoots', and you can still feel the bud in it: a burgeoning industry or population does not just get bigger, it puts out new growth in every direction at once. It is a formal, faintly literary word, stronger than plain grow, and it lives most often as the adjective burgeoning — a burgeoning market, a burgeoning talent.

02In use
  • iThe city's tech sector has burgeoned, drawing thousands of new workers each year.
  • iiInterest in the sport is burgeoning, and clubs are struggling to grow fast enough to keep up.
  • iiiA burgeoning middle class began to demand better schools and roads.
03Collocations
  • a burgeoning industry
  • a burgeoning population
  • burgeoning demand
  • a burgeoning middle class
  • burgeon into

Family burgeoning (adjective)

04Relations

=flourish, thrive, proliferate, expand, grow

≠dwindle, shrink, diminish

06TOEFL & IELTS

Burgeon is a high-value formal verb for academic Writing when 'grow a lot' is too flat — a burgeoning industry, a burgeoning population, burgeoning demand. It is chiefly intransitive (things burgeon; you do not burgeon them) and most often appears as the adjective burgeoning. The connotation is broadly positive or neutral, so save it for growth you are describing favourably or plainly, not for problems. Pronounce it BUR-jun, two syllables.

07Asked
How do you pronounce burgeon and burgeoning?
It is BUR-jun — /ˈbɜːrdʒən/ in the US, /ˈbɜːdʒən/ in the UK — two syllables, with a soft g as in 'gem', not a hard one. The adjective burgeoning simply adds a third syllable: BUR-jun-ing. It happens to rhyme with 'surgeon', though the two words are otherwise unrelated.
What does 'burgeoning' mean?
Burgeoning is the adjective from burgeon, meaning growing or flourishing rapidly — a burgeoning industry, a burgeoning population, a burgeoning friendship. It is by far the word's most common form in modern writing, and it describes something that is expanding fast and thriving at the same time, not merely getting larger.
Is burgeon a positive or negative word?
Usually positive or neutral — it suggests healthy, flourishing growth rather than mere increase. But context colours it: a burgeoning arts scene sounds promising, while burgeoning traffic or burgeoning crime sounds like a problem. Left to itself the word leans favourable, so reserve it for growth you view well.
Can burgeon be used for things other than plants?
Yes — although it began as 'to bud or sprout', today it is used mostly figuratively: economies, cities, industries, talents and populations all burgeon. The scene above shows the old bud origin, buds bursting into leaf, but in modern use the word means any fast, flourishing growth, plant or not.
What is the difference between burgeon and flourish or thrive?
Burgeon stresses fast NEW growth — buds breaking out, numbers climbing, something spreading quickly. Flourish and thrive stress doing well and healthily once established. A start-up burgeons as it expands; a long-running firm flourishes. One word is about rapid spreading, the other about steady prospering.
Where does the word burgeon come from?
From Anglo-French burjuner and Middle English burjonen, 'to bud or put out shoots', from a root meaning 'bud'. That literal bud survives inside the meaning: to burgeon is to break into new growth, the way a branch buds in spring, which is why it fits fast, fresh, spreading increase so well.