blue
noun
the pure color of a clear sky; the primary color between green and violet in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 450 and 500 nanometers.
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Bluest.
blue
American
[bloo]
/ blu /
noun
-
blues
plural
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the pure color of a clear sky; the primary color between green and violet in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 450 and 500 nanometers.
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something having a blue color.
Place the blue next to the red.
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a person who wears blue or is a member of a group characterized by some blue symbol.
Tomorrow the blues will play the browns.
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(often initial capital letter) a member of the Union army in the American Civil War or the army itself.
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any of several blue-winged butterflies of the family Lycaenidae.
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Printing. blueline.
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the blue,
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the sky.
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the sea.
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the remote distance.
They've vanished into the blue somewhere.
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adjective
bluer,
bluest
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of the color of blue.
a blue tie.
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(initial capital letter) of or relating to the Union army in the American Civil War.
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(of the skin) discolored by cold, contusion, fear, or vascular collapse.
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depressed in spirits; dejected; melancholy.
She felt blue about not being chosen for the team.
- Synonyms:
- downcast, glum, sad, dispirited, doleful, morose, unhappy, despondent
- Antonyms:
- happy
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holding or offering little hope; dismal; bleak.
a blue outlook.
- Synonyms:
- gloomy
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characterized by or stemming from rigid morals or religion.
statutes that were blue and unrealistic.
- Synonyms:
- strait-laced, puritanical, righteous
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marked by blasphemy.
The air was blue with oaths.
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(of an animal's pelage) grayish-blue.
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indecent; somewhat obscene; risqué.
a blue joke or film.
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Politics.
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relating to, supporting, or belonging to the Democratic Party in the United States; Democratic.
The county effectively turned blue, with all 38 district judges elected being Democrats.
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British. politically conservative.
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verb (used with object)
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blues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blued,
past participle, past
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bluing,
present participle
-
blueing
present participle
-
to make blue; dye a blue color.
-
to tinge with bluing.
Don't blue your clothes till the second rinse.
verb (used without object)
-
blues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blued,
past participle, past
-
bluing,
present participle
-
blueing
present participle
idioms
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out of the blue, suddenly and unexpectedly.
The inheritance came out of the blue as a stroke of good fortune.
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blue in the face, exhausted and speechless, as from excessive anger, physical strain, etc..
I reminded him about it till I was blue in the face.
blue
1
British
/ bluː /
noun
-
any of a group of colours, such as that of a clear unclouded sky, that have wavelengths in the range 490–445 nanometres. Blue is the complementary colour of yellow and with red and green forms a set of primary colours
-
a dye or pigment of any of these colours
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blue cloth or clothing
dressed in blue
-
-
a sportsperson who represents or has represented Oxford or Cambridge University and has the right to wear the university colour (dark blue for Oxford, light blue for Cambridge)
an Oxford blue
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the honour of so representing one's university
-
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an informal name for Tory
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any of numerous small blue-winged butterflies of the genera Lampides, Polyommatus , etc: family Lycaenidae
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archaic short for bluestocking
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slang a policeman
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archery a blue ring on a target, between the red and the black, scoring five points
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a blue ball in snooker, etc
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another name for blueing
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slang an argument or fight
he had a blue with a taxi driver
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Also: bluey. slang a court summons, esp for a traffic offence
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informal a mistake; error
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apparently from nowhere; unexpectedly
the opportunity came out of the blue
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into the unknown or the far distance
adjective
-
of the colour blue
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(of the flesh) having a purple tinge, as from cold or contusion
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depressed, moody, or unhappy
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dismal or depressing
a blue day
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indecent, titillating, or pornographic
blue films
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bluish in colour or having parts or marks that are bluish
a blue fox
a blue whale
-
rare aristocratic; noble; patrician See blue blood
a blue family
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relating to, supporting, or representing the Democratic Party Compare red 1
verb
-
to make, dye, or become blue
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(tr) to treat (laundry) with blueing
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slang (tr) to spend extravagantly or wastefully; squander
Blue
2
British
/ bluː /
noun
blue
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bluesimple
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bluessimple
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have bluedperfect
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has bluedperfect
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am blueingprogressive
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am bluingprogressive
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are blueingprogressive
-
are bluingprogressive
-
is blueingprogressive
-
is bluingprogressive
-
have been blueingperfect progressive
-
have been bluingperfect progressive
-
has been blueingperfect progressive
-
has been bluingperfect progressive
Past
-
bluedsimple
-
had bluedperfect
-
was blueingprogressive
-
was bluingprogressive
-
were blueingprogressive
-
were bluingprogressive
-
had been blueingperfect progressive
-
had been bluingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blue
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English blewe, from Anglo-French blew, bl(i)u, bl(i)ef “blue, livid, discolored,” Old French blo, blau ( French bleu ), from unattested Germanic blǣwaz; compare Old English blǣwen, contraction of blǣhǣwen “deep blue, perse,” Old Frisian blāw, Middle Dutch blā(u), Old High German blāo ( German blau ), Old Norse blār
Explanation
Among other things, blue is a color and a dreary mood. If the blue sky and ocean have turned gray and stormy, you might be blue because your day at the beach is ruined. Whether it's a primary color or a saddened mood, blue is used often as an adjective for people and things. Blue is a mix of green and purple shades, and it's the favorite color of many. The color blue might bring thoughts of first-place blue ribbons or police officers in blue uniforms, and it colors many flags of the world. Blue is everywhere, but there isn't a lot of blue food unless it's colored with dye. Even blueberries are mostly purple.
Vocabulary lists containing blue
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:
TV news versions of the electoral map have become a living tool for on-air analysts since debuting in 1976, when red represented Democrat and blue meant Republican.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
Meanwhile, Michigan Democratic candidate for US Senate Abdul El-Sayed, who is in a highly competitive race against a Trump-backed former congressman, has adopted a consistent look of black V-neck T-shirt and blue jeans.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
That ceasefire has been a "breath of fresh air", said the 38-year-old father with piercing blue eyes.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Not just because they towered overhead, the biggest dwarfing a stack of 10 blue whales.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
A pile of clothes was heaped outside in the hallway; on top lay Nollie’s blue sweater.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The department has sought $15,000 from the City Council to hire an outside law firm to represent the city with negotiations with a company called 44 Blue Productions LLC.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
The Ford Blue segment, covering gas and hybrid vehicles, reported a 3% decline in revenue to $27.1 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
In February, Amazon pulled Blue Jay, a multiarm system it had unveiled four months earlier, from its operations.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
But the biggest setback was on 28 May 2026, when Blue Origin's only launch pad at Cape Canaveral was seriously damaged after a rocket exploded during an engine test.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
Many of the song titles were funny: “Jailhouse Rock,” “Rock Around the Clock,” and “Venus in Blue Jeans.”
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
The prehistory of rock ‘n’ roll is full of names who might have become stars if they were gifted with his baby blues or discovered by a relentless schemer on the level Col.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
Side 2 launches with “Sunspot Baby,” a honky-tonk blues centered on a duplicitous girlfriend who bails on the protagonist, leaving him with a maxed-out credit card.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Her parents went to the blues clubs and attended the Bamboo Club when it hosted artists such as Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker and Johnny Nash.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Instead of singing the blues, Clarkson shopped around for another Nashville-area residence.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
But they’re not the soft blues of robins’ eggs or the deep navy of natural indigo.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
A few days after the initial flash, it brightened again, shifted to bluer light, and showed hydrogen in its spectra.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2026
One entry describes begonia as “a deep pink that is bluer, lighter, and stronger than average coral . . . and bluer and stronger than sweet william—called also gaiety.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Firstly, they are two to three times as bright as traditional halogens, and their "colour temperature" is bluer and whiter, which mimics natural daylight.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Will more of them leave for bluer pastures now that the man in charge has made explicit that he crushes the reach of links?
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2024
His eyes were bluer than ever, bluer than they should have been in the darkness.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
Once the bluest of blue-chip stocks, IBM’s biggest-ever decline on Tuesday following a profit warning did little to rattle investors focused on a dip in inflation and on AI winners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
His research is the bluest of blue-sky: he uses quantum computers to predict how sub-atomic particles behave.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
Also on the letter was Ritchie Torres of New York’s 15th District, similarly one of the bluest districts in America; erstwhile Democratic presidential wannabe Dean Phillips of Minnesota; and California’s newest senator-to-be, Adam Schiff.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2024
She cries, "You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died on the altar waiting for the proof. You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest day."
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2024
Sometimes they were separated by a few days, and those days were the clearest and bluest Turner had ever seen.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
As we talked, the greens blued into ultramarine or yellowed into chartreuse.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2022
Facebook is the classic example of how the individual investor can get screwed, blued and tattooed.
From Forbes ● Sep. 1, 2012
Solid Design: Remington plans to offer the Genesis in the entire gamut of stainless and blued, plain and fluted versions, with numerous stock choices.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Tikka T3 Deluxe features a blued T3-barreled action in a high-grade walnut stock with classic three-point checkering, a rosewood forend tip and a grip cap with an antique silver-colored T3 medallion.
From Time Magazine Archive
My Austrian sniper’s rifle with its blued octagon barrel and the lovely dark walnut, cheek-fitted, schutzen stock, hung over the two beds.
From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway
Wash blue, or blueing, is a laundry product with iron powder and just a hint of blue dye.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2021
This circumstance has led Sociologists Peter and Brigitte Berger to suggest that if what Charles Reich calls "the greening of America" goes on apace, it may shade into a "blueing of America."
From Time Magazine Archive
The Glen Alden Coal Co. of Buffalo and Rochester, N. Y., has made the last wash a blueing process.
From Time Magazine Archive
Most red ink, most blueing, clear coffee, tea, and ocean water are solutions.
From Common Science by John W. (John Woodside) Ritchie
The blueing tends to counteract any yellow tinge in the clothes, making them appear whiter.
From Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Household Management by Ontario. Ministry of Education
Anyone in area suffering symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing, or bluing of lips and fingers is advised to contact the NHS 111 helpline.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2024
Although Castle made works with color, utilizing a variety of materials that include laundry bluing, watercolor, crayon and even colored ink leached from magazine pages, these are black soot-and-spit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2023
Some on Reddit fixed this by sanding theirs down to take the shine off of the finish, and another recommended using an acrylic topcoat and another chemical bluing.
From The Verge ● Mar. 9, 2022
When a congressional seat opened up in a bluing stretch of Phoenix’s eastern suburbs, Sinema ran and won.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2021
“But what a lot of work to boil the clothes in the large pots with the bluing powder.”
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
