Showing Results for "blues"

See Also:

• present tense form of blue (3rd person singular).

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• blues
  blues

  noun

  the blues, depressed spirits; despondency; melancholy.
• Blues
  Blues

  plural noun

  the Royal Horse Guards

blues

¹ American  

[blooz] / bluz /

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) the blues, depressed spirits; despondency; melancholy.

   This rainy spell is giving me the blues.

2. (used with a singular verb)

   1. a song, originating with African Americans, that is marked by the frequent occurrence of blue notes, and that takes the basic form, customarily improvised upon in performance, of a 12-bar chorus consisting of a 3-line stanza with the second line repeating the first.

   2. the genre constituting such songs.

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blues ² American  

[blooz] / bluz /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. any of various blue military uniforms worn by members of the U.S. armed services.

   dress blues.

2. a blue uniform for work; blue work clothes.

   a doctor in surgical blues.

3. Informal. police.

   The blues keep this neighborhood safe.

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Blues ¹ British  

/ bluːz /

plural noun

1. the Royal Horse Guards

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blues ² British  

/ bluːz /

plural noun

1. a feeling of depression or deep unhappiness

2. a type of folk song devised by Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century, usually employing a basic 12-bar chorus, the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords, frequent minor intervals, and blue notes

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blues Cultural  

1. A kind of jazz that evolved from the music of African-Americans, especially work songs and spirituals (see also spirituals), in the early twentieth century. Blues pieces often express worry or depression.

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blues Idioms  

1. see have the blues.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• bluesy
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of blues¹

First recorded in 1740–50; cf. blue (in the sense “depressed in spirits; dejected; melancholy”)

Origin of blues²

see origin at blue, -s ³

Explanation

If you've got the blues, you probably want to lie in bed and cry — or get out your guitar and sadly sing the blues. Since the fourteenth century, the word blue has been used to mean "sad." The noun blues came into use in the 1700s to describe a state of sadness or melancholy. Around a hundred years later, a Black American musical genre adopted the word to describe its particular twelve-bar chord progression and folksy sound. Lyrics in blues music often describe hard times, struggles, and a particular kind of melancholy mood.

Example Sentences

I love our den, where I have a TV and guitars once owned by blues and rock artists.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

Beach-house owners are trading seaside clichés—white drywall, breezy blues, sandy neutrals, etc.—for bold interiors with darker tones.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

But buyers are shaking off the blues in certain parts of the country, even if it doesn’t move the needle much on a national level.

From Barron's • May 26, 2026

He said the US was "where all the music we loved came from, all the rock 'n' roll, the blues and the whole thing...America was just the land of the free, the greatest democracy".

From BBC • May 22, 2026

Typically, folk, blues, rock, marches, and Classical-era46 music is based on relatively straightforward chord progressions, but of course there are plenty of exceptions.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones