Bluebeard

American  

[bloo-beerd] / ˈbluˌbɪərd /

noun

1. a fairy-tale character whose seventh wife found the bodies of her predecessors in a room she had been forbidden to enter.

2. any man alleged to have murdered a number of his wives or other women.

---

Bluebeard British  

/ ˈbluːˌbɪəd /

noun

1. a villain in European folk tales who marries several wives and murders them in turn. In many versions the seventh and last wife escapes the fate of the others

2. a man who has had several wives

---

Bluebeard Cultural  

1. A fairy tale character from the Charles Perrault collection. The character is a monstrous villain who marries seven women in turn and warns them not to look behind a certain door of his castle. Inside the room are the corpses of his former wives. Bluebeard kills six wives for their disobedience before one passes his test.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Bluebeardism
  noun

Example Sentences

In “A Bluebeard of Wives,” Mark ponders her place as her husband’s third spouse.

From Washington Post • Apr. 11, 2023

“The technical aspect is very present,” said Christopher Tandy, a Welsh-born company member who is performing the role of Bluebeard, during a break in the rehearsal.

From New York Times • Jan. 15, 2020

She is currently working on a film about Bluebeard.

From The Guardian • Oct. 28, 2018

And Katy recommends Angela Carter's playful and subversive retellings of Charles Perrault's classic fairy tales, Bluebeard.

From Slate • May 19, 2017

She whispered to me the story of Bluebeard and His Seven Wives and I ceased to see the porch, the sunshine, her face, everything.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright