blond

[blond]

adjective

blonder, blondest 

1. (of hair, skin, etc.) light-colored.

   the child's soft blond curls.

2. (of a person) having light-colored hair and skin.

3. (of furniture wood) light in tone.

noun

1. a blond person.

2. silk lace, originally unbleached but now often dyed any of various colors, especially white or black.

blond

/ blɒnd /

adjective

1. (of men's hair) of a light colour; fair

2. (of a person, people or a race) having fair hair, a light complexion, and, typically, blue or grey eyes

3. (of soft furnishings, wood, etc) light in colour

noun

1. a person, esp a man, having light-coloured hair and skin

Usage

Although blond and blonde correspond to masculine and feminine forms in French, this distinction is not consistently made in English. Blonde is the commoner form both as a noun and an adjective, and is more frequently used to refer to women than men. The less common variant blond occurs usually as an adjective, occasionally as a noun, and is the preferred form when referring to men with fair hair

Spelling Note

See blonde.

Other Word Forms

• blondness noun
• blondish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of blond¹

First recorded in 1475–85; from Middle French blonde “blond, light brown,” feminine of blond, from Germanic; akin to Old English blondenfeax “gray-haired,” Latin flāvus “yellow” ( flavo- )

Word History and Origins

Origin of blond¹

C15: from Old French blond , probably of Germanic origin; related to Late Latin blundus yellow, Italian biondo , Spanish blondo

Example Sentences

His pale complexion and round face would have made him a dead ringer for the man in the moon, if the moon had wispy blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a puzzled expression.

Read more on Literature

With one hand she smoothed her dark blond hair, which was arranged in an elegant chignon at the nape of her neck.

Read more on Literature

He was handsome, blond, and charismatic, and everyone on the base knew who he was and what he was training to do.

Read more on Literature

By the time Decca and tall, blond Boud approach “the great golden goal of every childhood—being a grownup,” they long for a different kind of life.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I thought Alex was pretty cute in his light maroon jacket — the kind that’s perfect for those May gray evenings — and one that highlighted his wispy blond hair.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bleached www.thesaurus.com
• blonde 
• golden 

When To Use

What’s the difference between blond and blonde?

Blond and blonde are both adjectives most commonly used to describe the color of light or yellowish hair or someone who has such hair. They can also both be used as nouns referring to a person with such hair, as in Should I make this character a blond or a redhead? They are pronounced exactly the same. But there is a difference: the spelling blonde is typically used in a gender-specific way to refer to or describe women and girls with this hair color. In contrast, the use of blond in a gender-neutral way is very common. And when the word is used as an adjective, this spelling is much more commonly used, regardless of the gender of the person whose hair color is being described.Blond and blonde derive from French, which has grammatical gender, meaning that some words end differently depending on whether they are applied to men or women (with e being the feminine ending). This happens in a few other pairs of words in English, like confidant and confidante, though in many cases the term without the e has become largely gender-neutral. This is the case with blond, which is the more commonly used of the two.When describing the colors of things other than hair, such as wood or coffee, only the spelling blond is used.When in doubt, remember that the spelling blond is appropriate in all cases.Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between blond and blonde.