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.
blue
American
[bloo]
/ blu /
noun
-
blues
plural
-
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.
-
something having a blue color.
Place the blue next to the red.
-
a person who wears blue or is a member of a group characterized by some blue symbol.
Tomorrow the blues will play the browns.
-
(often initial capital letter) a member of the Union army in the American Civil War or the army itself.
-
any of several blue-winged butterflies of the family Lycaenidae.
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Printing. blueline.
-
the blue,
-
the sky.
-
the sea.
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the remote distance.
They've vanished into the blue somewhere.
-
adjective
bluer,
bluest
-
of the color of blue.
a blue tie.
-
(initial capital letter) of or relating to the Union army in the American Civil War.
-
(of the skin) discolored by cold, contusion, fear, or vascular collapse.
-
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
-
holding or offering little hope; dismal; bleak.
a blue outlook.
- Synonyms:
- gloomy
-
characterized by or stemming from rigid morals or religion.
statutes that were blue and unrealistic.
- Synonyms:
- strait-laced, puritanical, righteous
-
marked by blasphemy.
The air was blue with oaths.
-
(of an animal's pelage) grayish-blue.
-
indecent; somewhat obscene; risqué.
a blue joke or film.
-
Politics.
-
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.
-
British. politically conservative.
-
verb (used with object)
-
blues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blued,
past participle, past
-
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
-
out of the blue, suddenly and unexpectedly.
The inheritance came out of the blue as a stroke of good fortune.
-
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
-
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
-
the honour of so representing one's university
-
-
an informal name for Tory
-
any of numerous small blue-winged butterflies of the genera Lampides, Polyommatus , etc: family Lycaenidae
-
archaic short for bluestocking
-
slang a policeman
-
archery a blue ring on a target, between the red and the black, scoring five points
-
a blue ball in snooker, etc
-
another name for blueing
-
slang an argument or fight
he had a blue with a taxi driver
-
Also: bluey. slang a court summons, esp for a traffic offence
-
informal a mistake; error
-
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
-
(of the flesh) having a purple tinge, as from cold or contusion
-
depressed, moody, or unhappy
-
dismal or depressing
a blue day
-
indecent, titillating, or pornographic
blue films
-
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
-
relating to, supporting, or representing the Democratic Party Compare red 1
verb
-
to make, dye, or become blue
-
(tr) to treat (laundry) with blueing
-
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
-
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
-
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:
Solid white regions represent areas with the greatest ice coverage, while dark blue indicates open ocean.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
The bedroom also overlooks the backyard, while the adjoining bathroom features Italian blue glass tile, giving the space a spa-inspired appearance.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
As the camera cuts between close-ups of his narrowed eyes and her big, blue ones, Fielder tries to suss whether he can trust the famous fibber to be honest with him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Ward, who lives with his wife Gill, first applied successfully for a blue badge three years ago and said the process had been relatively simple before.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
She nodded as if it made sense and slid some purple and dark blue beads onto her needle.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is expanding rocket production in Florida as it works to challenge SpaceX’s launch business.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026
Blue Owl disclosed in August that roughly 10% of the loans still in the fund were in default and another 20% were underperforming.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
The 35-year-old is now at Chelsea but - with apologies to Danny - there is another former Blue whose stats demand a place on this list.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
“To put it more precisely: a Zacharia is about .4 of a Scaramucci,” Anna Bower, a senior editor at Lawfare, posted on Blue Sky.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
In Brooksville, short on funds, the Warden steered the Blue Bird Inn into a trailer park and declared this to be their new address.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
This Symphony May Contain Hope show will showcase songs from her recent chart-topping second album, This Music May Contain Hope, which fuses old-school jazz with orchestral sound, blues, big band and soul.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Along Fostoria’s Drummond Street, these homes’ front porches become stages for local and regional musicians playing folk, blues, country, Americana, rock and acoustic music.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
The right map above illustrates that shift, with lighter reds and blues showing much smaller rates of change during that decade.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Some are born to sing the blues, as Perry once observed — just not Perry himself, who chews his way through this corny come-on like an overserved uncle at the Hard Rock Cafe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Now Mother’s shack is the mere peak of a roof surrounded by a blaze of pinks, blues, oranges.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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
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
Not everyone supports the flight to bluer skies.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 19, 2024
In the case of Neptune, both processes made it bluer than it really was.
From BBC ● Jan. 5, 2024
If there is somebody with bluer eyes than mine, then maybe there is somebody with the bluest eyes.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
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
Dust everywhere . . . and out of that emerged this beautiful boy with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen, holding his hand out to help me to my feet.
From "Legend" by Marie Lu
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
The Glen Alden Coal Co. of Buffalo and Rochester, N. Y., has made the last wash a blueing process.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
Her arm brushed against a bottle of blueing left uncorked by Mrs. Comstock.
From The Vanishing Houseboat by Mildred A. (Mildred Augustine) Wirt
They are to be washed a third time in a stronger soap liquor, made hot and tinged with blueing, and rinsed in clean water.
From The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families by Mary Eaton
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
High above the library’s stained-glass windows and soaring neo-Gothic spires, screeching seagulls whirled in white loops against the slowly bluing sky.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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