Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

blue pill

American  

noun

Pharmacology.
  1. a pill of blue mass, used in medicine chiefly as a cathartic.


Etymology

Origin of blue pill

First recorded in 1785–95

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.

The film’s centerpiece red pill versus blue pill moment centers the frame among oversized, glowing capsules.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2025

In the 1999 film “The Matrix,” Morpheus gives Neo the choice of a blue pill or red pill.

From Washington Times • Jan. 5, 2022

Pop the blue pill and return to life as Mr Anderson blissfully unaware of the matrix, the simulated world created to covertly enslave humanity.

From BBC • Dec. 20, 2021

A teaser poster for "The Matrix Resurrections" was also revealed alongside an updated interactive website that displays the familiar options of choosing the red pill or the blue pill.

From Fox News • Sep. 7, 2021

Sometimes he announced to the club that Tom Newcome was in love: then he thought it was not Tom's heart but his liver that was affected, and recommended blue pill.

From The Newcomes Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family by Thackeray, William Makepeace