Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Jump To:
  • blue-rinse
    blue-rinse
    adjective
    of, for, or composed mostly of elderly women.
  • blue rinse
    blue rinse
    noun
    a rinse for tinting grey hair a silvery-blue colour

blue-rinse

American  
[bloo-rins] / ˈbluˌrɪns /

adjective

  1. of, for, or composed mostly of elderly women.

    the blue-rinse matinee audience.


blue rinse British  

noun

  1. a rinse for tinting grey hair a silvery-blue colour

"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

adjective

  1. denoting or typifying an elderly, well-groomed, socially active, and comparatively wealthy 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 blue-rinse

First recorded in 1975–80; so called from the bluish tinge produced by certain rinses used on gray hair


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:

“We taped it at about 6 in the morning, and the studio audience was full of elderly ladies with blue-rinse hair,” Miller recalls.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 28, 2021

In Britain her battles with the left—especially the miners—gave her a reputation as a blue-rinse Boadicea.

From Economist ● Apr. 8, 2013

This effectively meant that Foaly could tune the bio-bomb to blue-rinse only Fowl Manor and not one blade of grass more, plus the building would be radiation-free in under a minute.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

In a couple of weeks, I’m going to have some lavender put in with the white, and I’ll finally have a blue rinse, just like those old ladies I remember.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 26, 2015

"As rock and roll as a blue rinse," was the the Sun's more recent take.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 15, 2012

His return was for the blue rinse and double-knit set.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2012

Holly sighed, turning away from the already dwindling blue rinse.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

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

Start training