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View synonyms for blue

blue

[ bloo ]

noun

  1. the pure color of a clear sky; the primary color between green and violet in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 450 and 500 nanometers.

    Synonyms: sapphire, cerulean, azure

  2. something having a blue color:

    Place the blue next to the red.

  3. a person who wears blue or is a member of a group characterized by some blue symbol:

    Tomorrow the blues will play the browns.

  4. (often initial capital letter) a member of the Union army in the American Civil War or the army itself. Compare gray 1( def 13 ).
  5. any of several blue-winged butterflies of the family Lycaenidae.
  6. Printing. blueline.
  7. the blue,
    1. the sky.
    2. the sea.
    3. the remote distance:

      They've vanished into the blue somewhere.



adjective

, blu·er, blu·est.
  1. of the color of blue:

    a blue tie.

  2. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Union army in the American Civil War.
  3. (of the skin) discolored by cold, contusion, fear, or vascular collapse.
  4. depressed in spirits; dejected; melancholy:

    She felt blue about not being chosen for the team.

    Synonyms: downcast, glum, sad, dispirited, doleful, morose, unhappy, despondent

    Antonyms: happy

  5. holding or offering little hope; dismal; bleak:

    a blue outlook.

    Synonyms: gloomy

  6. characterized by or stemming from rigid morals or religion:

    statutes that were blue and unrealistic.

    Synonyms: strait-laced, puritanical, righteous

  7. marked by blasphemy:

    The air was blue with oaths.

  8. (of an animal's pelage) grayish-blue.
  9. indecent; somewhat obscene; risqué:

    a blue joke or film.

  10. Politics.
    1. relating to, supporting, or belonging to the Democratic Party in the United States; Democratic: Compare red 1( def 14 ).

      The county effectively turned blue, with all 38 district judges elected being Democrats.

    2. British. politically conservative.

verb (used with object)

, blued, blu·ing or blue·ing.
  1. to make blue; dye a blue color.
  2. to tinge with bluing:

    Don't blue your clothes till the second rinse.

verb (used without object)

, blued, blu·ing or blue·ing.
  1. to become or turn blue.

Blue

1

/ bluː /

noun

  1. informal.
    a nickname for a person with red hair
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


blue

2

/ bluː /

noun

  1. any of a group of colours, such as that of a clear unclouded sky, that have wavelengths in the range 490–445 nanometres. Blue is the complementary colour of yellow and with red and green forms a set of primary colours cyanic
  2. a dye or pigment of any of these colours
  3. blue cloth or clothing

    dressed in blue

    1. a sportsperson who represents or has represented Oxford or Cambridge University and has the right to wear the university colour (dark blue for Oxford, light blue for Cambridge)

      an Oxford blue

    2. the honour of so representing one's university
  4. an informal name for Tory
  5. any of numerous small blue-winged butterflies of the genera Lampides, Polyommatus , etc: family Lycaenidae
  6. archaic.
    short for bluestocking
  7. slang.
    a policeman
  8. archery a blue ring on a target, between the red and the black, scoring five points
  9. a blue ball in snooker, etc
  10. another name for blueing
  11. slang.
    an argument or fight

    he had a blue with a taxi driver

  12. slang.
    Alsobluey a court summons, esp for a traffic offence
  13. informal.
    a mistake; error
  14. out of the blue
    apparently from nowhere; unexpectedly

    the opportunity came out of the blue

  15. into the blue
    into the unknown or the far distance
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of the colour blue
  2. (of the flesh) having a purple tinge, as from cold or contusion
  3. depressed, moody, or unhappy
  4. dismal or depressing

    a blue day

  5. indecent, titillating, or pornographic

    blue films

  6. bluish in colour or having parts or marks that are bluish

    a blue fox

    a blue whale

  7. rare.
    aristocratic; noble; patrician See blue blood

    a blue family

  8. relating to, supporting, or representing the Democratic Party Compare red 1
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to make, dye, or become blue
  2. tr to treat (laundry) with blueing
  3. slang.
    tr to spend extravagantly or wastefully; squander
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈbluely, adverb
  • ˈblueness, noun
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Other Words From

  • blue·ly adverb
  • blue·ness noun
  • half-blue adjective
  • un·blued adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of blue1

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English blewe, from Anglo-French blew, bl(i)u, bl(i)ef “blue, livid, discolored,” Old French blo, blau ( French bleu ), from unattested Germanic blǣwaz; compare Old English blǣwen, contraction of blǣhǣwen “deep blue, perse,” Old Frisian blāw, Middle Dutch blā(u), Old High German blāo ( German blau ), Old Norse blār
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Word History and Origins

Origin of blue1

C13: from Old French bleu , of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse blār , Old High German blāo , Middle Dutch blā ; related to Latin flāvus yellow
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. blue in the face, exhausted and speechless, as from excessive anger, physical strain, etc.:

    I reminded him about it till I was blue in the face.

  2. out of the blue, suddenly and unexpectedly:

    The inheritance came out of the blue as a stroke of good fortune.

More idioms and phrases containing blue

  • between a rock and a hard place (devil and deep blue sea)
  • black and blue
  • bolt from the blue
  • have the blues
  • into thin air (the blue)
  • like greased lightning (a blue streak)
  • once in a blue moon
  • out of a clear blue sky
  • talk one's arm off (a blue streak
  • until blue in the face)
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Example Sentences

Clad in a blue, striped button-down, a silver watch adorning his left wrist, Huckabee beams on the cover.

Yeah, the “Giant man-puppy” that is Gronkowski won't hold a sexual candle to the blue-eyed dreamboat.

GOP leaders refused; they saw that Duke was pulling blue-collar Democrats to the party.

It denotes the person that puts on the badge, puts on the blue uniform, and goes into the streets to put their life at risk.

They looked up into the blue sky as the helicopters flew over in a lost man formation.

In pursuing his alchemical researches, he discovered Prussian blue, and the animal oil which bears his name.

Mary is fair as the morning dew— Cheeks of roses and ribbons of blue!

His nose was hooked and rather large, his eyes were blue, bright as steel, and set a trifle wide.

The most promising of the methods which have been devised are cryoscopy, the methylene-blue test, and the phloridzin test.

He said no more in words, but his little blue eyes had an eloquence that left nothing to mere speech.

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Related Words

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.

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