Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for bolt from (out of) the blue. Search instead for bolt+from+(out+of)+the+blue.

bolt from (out of) the blue

Cultural  

  1. An unexpected event that strikes like lightning from the sky: “He had been with the company for eighteen years; when he was fired, it must have felt like a bolt from the blue.”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It was a bolt from out of the blue.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "bolt from (out of) the blue" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com