blue

[ bloo ]

/ blu /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: blue / blues / blueness on Thesaurus.com

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.

bluing.

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.Compare gray¹ (def. 13).

bluestocking.

blue ribbon (def. 1).

any of several blue-winged butterflies of the family Lycaenidae.

Printing. blueline.

the blue,

the sky.
the sea.
the remote distance: They've vanished into the blue somewhere.

adjective, blu·er, blu·est.

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.

holding or offering little hope; dismal; bleak: a blue outlook.

characterized by or stemming from rigid morals or religion: statutes that were blue and unrealistic.

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.Compare red¹ (def. 14).
British. politically conservative.

verb (used with object), blued, blu·ing or blue·ing.

to make blue; dye a blue color.

to tinge with bluing: Don't blue your clothes till the second rinse.

verb (used without object), blued, blu·ing or blue·ing.

to become or turn blue.

OTHER WORDS FOR blue

1 azure, cerulean, sapphire.

14 despondent, unhappy, morose, doleful, dispirited, sad, glum, downcast.

15 gloomy, dispiriting.

16 righteous, puritanical, moralistic, strait-laced.

See synonyms for blue on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR blue

14 happy.

See antonyms for blue on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about blue

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.

out of the blue, suddenly and unexpectedly: The inheritance came out of the blue as a stroke of good fortune.

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

OTHER WORDS FROM blue

blue·ly, adverbblue·ness, nounhalf-blue, adjectiveun·blued, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH blue

blew, blue

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use blue in a sentence

Each blue triangle is one type of Robinson triangle, and each yellow triangle is the other type.
How to Solve Our Three John Conway-Inspired Puzzles|Pradeep Mutalik|November 20, 2020|Quanta Magazine
That’s like a person gaining the weight of two blue whales in two weeks.
Monarch caterpillars head-butt each other to fight for scarce food|Curtis Segarra|November 19, 2020|Science News
Either way, this “blue shift” in the vote count often took several days, making it hard to see who was really ahead if you weren’t familiar with the ins and outs of vote-counting.
Where We Saw Red And Blue Mirages On Election Night|Laura Bronner (laura.bronner@abc.com)|November 12, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Those electrons make nitrogen in the air glow blue and oxygen glow green.
STEVE may be even less like typical auroras than scientists thought|Maria Temming|November 12, 2020|Science News

“How Democrats' Senate dreams crumbled,” by Kevin RobillardInside the blue mirage.
The Trailer: The 10 crucial counties, revisited|David Weigel|November 10, 2020|Washington Post
As he gave the warning he lifted his hand, and Matt saw the sun glimmer on a piece of blued steel.
Motor Matt's Daring, or, True to His Friends|Stanley R. Matthews
Wheel-lock of blued steel, with gold and silver inlay, and wheel-guard of tracery in thin gold.
Armour in England|J. Starkie Gardner
For rough work, and in strong sunlight, a pistol is best blued.
Automatic Pistol Shooting|Walter Winans
A blued finish is also to be preferred when shooting in the sunlight.
Pistol and Revolver Shooting|A. L. A. Himmelwright
When the first boilerful of clothes are hung out or waiting to be blued, empty the second boilerful into the tub.
The Library of Work and Play: Housekeeping|Elizabeth Hale Gilman

British Dictionary definitions for blue (1 of 2)

blue

/ (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 coloursRelated adjective: cyanic

a dye or pigment of any of these colours

blue cloth or clothingdressed 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

British 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

Australian and NZ slang an argument or fighthe had a blue with a taxi driver

Also: bluey Australian and NZ slang a court summons, esp for a traffic offence

Australian and NZ informal a mistake; error

out of the blue apparently from nowhere; unexpectedlythe opportunity came out of the blue

into the blue into the unknown or the far distance

adjective bluer or bluest

of the colour blue

(of the flesh) having a purple tinge, as from cold or contusion

depressed, moody, or unhappy

dismal or depressinga blue day

indecent, titillating, or pornographicblue films

bluish in colour or having parts or marks that are bluisha blue fox; a blue whale

rare aristocratic; noble; patriciana blue family See blue blood

US relating to, supporting, or representing the Democratic PartyCompare red 1 (def. 18)

verb blues, blueing, bluing or blued

to make, dye, or become blue

(tr) to treat (laundry) with blueing

(tr) slang to spend extravagantly or wastefully; squander

Derived forms of blue

bluely, adverbblueness, noun

Word Origin for blue

C13: from Old French bleu, of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse blār, Old High German blāo, Middle Dutch blā; related to Latin flāvus yellow

British Dictionary definitions for blue (2 of 2)

Blue

Bluey

/ (bluː) /

noun

Australian informal a nickname for a person with red hair

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with blue

blue

In addition to the idioms beginning with blue

blue funk, in a
blue in the face

also see:

between a rock and a hard place (devil and deep blue sea)
black and blue
bolt from the blue
have the blues
into thin air (the blue)
like greased lightning (a blue streak)
once in a blue moon
out of a clear blue sky
talk one's arm off (a blue streak
until blue in the face)

blue

OTHER WORDS FOR blue

OPPOSITES FOR blue

Idioms about blue

Origin of blue

OTHER WORDS FROM blue

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH blue

Words related to blue

How to use blue in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for blue (1 of 2)

Derived forms of blue

Word Origin for blue

British Dictionary definitions for blue (2 of 2)

Bluey

Other Idioms and Phrases with blue