Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

bas bleu

British  
/ bɑ blø /

noun

  1. a bluestocking; intellectual woman

"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

Etymology

Origin of bas bleu

C18: from French translation of English bluestocking

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.

See Examples For:

She was teacher rather than artist; but no one could be farther from a bas bleu, or more severe upon pedantry or pretension of any sort.

From The Women of the French Salons by Mason, Amelia Ruth Gere

I might have said she wasn't a bas bleu.

From Their Pilgrimage by Warner, Charles Dudley

Greek, French, Italian, metaphysics, and private authorship—pretty well for a miss in her teens, and surely a promissory-note on the bas bleu joint-stock company!—a note which she discharged in full when it became due.

From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 438 Volume 17, New Series, May 22, 1852 by Chambers, Robert

Au reste, she has nothing of the bas bleu about her, and is very quiet and agreeable.”

From Springtime and Other Essays by Darwin, Francis, Sir

He is himself a plain practical man, who has no sympathy with the bas bleu movement.

From Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook by Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training