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

---

adjective

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

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

“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

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 Literature

But many stereotypes about the famous "blue-rinse brigade" simply don't hold, according to Professor Bale.

From BBC

A mayor once joked Bournemouth is where "hedonism" and the "blue-rinse" set peacefully coexist.

From US News

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

From Economist