blue blood

American  

[bloo bluhd, bloo bluhd] / ˈblu ˌblʌd, ˈblu ˈblʌd /

noun

1. an aristocrat, noble, or member of a socially prominent family.

2. aristocratic, noble, or socially prominent lineage or relatives.

   They boasted a lineage of pure blue blood.

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blue blood British  

noun

1. royal or aristocratic descent

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Other Word Forms

• blue-blooded adjective

Etymology

Origin of blue blood

1825–35; translation of Spanish sangre azul. See sanguine, azure

Example Sentences

It was Brown, a Rhode Island blue blood whose name now adorns an Ivy League university, who in 1790 financed Slater’s stolen ideas for a state-of-the-art cotton mill.

From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026

Long before Cignetti was laying waste to college football’s blue blood programs, his head coaching journey began in 2011 when he was hired by a once-proud Division II program called Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 13, 2026

No blue blood wants to fake excitement about schlepping to the Pop-Tart Bowl, no offense to those sentient Pop-Tarts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025

Historical references go back many decades, a 1951 story in the Cincinnati Enquirer describing Xavier’s early season losses as having come against teams listed in “college basketball’s blue blood directory.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024

There's a possibility, as a precedent, that one or two of the passengers on the Mayflower didn't have as much blue blood when they started on the voyage as their descendants have got now—it's possible.

From The Night Operator by Packard, Frank L. (Frank Lucius)