blue blood
Americannoun
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an aristocrat, noble, or member of a socially prominent family.
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aristocratic, noble, or socially prominent lineage or relatives.
They boasted a lineage of pure blue blood.
noun
Other Word Forms
- blue-blooded adjective
Etymology
Origin of blue blood
1825–35; translation of Spanish sangre azul. See sanguine, azure
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.
Before his senior year, he could become the centerpiece of a feverish bidding war between blue blood programs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026
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
In the brave new world of college football, blue blood means nothing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
A blue blood, as far as Bilas is concerned, combines sustained high-level success with a tradition of championships.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024
A couple of millions with more to follow, no doubt, and a loyal adherence to the royalist cause was worth these days all the blue blood that flowed in my lord Anthony Dewhurst's veins.
From Lord Tony's Wife An Adventure of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness
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.
