Showing results for "blues"

• plural of blue.
• present tense form of blue (3rd person singular).

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• blues
  blues

  noun

  the blues, depressed spirits; despondency; melancholy.
• Blues
  Blues

  plural noun

  the Royal Horse Guards

blues

¹ American  

[blooz] / bluz /

noun

1. (used with a plural verb) the blues, depressed spirits; despondency; melancholy.

   This rainy spell is giving me the blues.

2. (used with a singular verb)

   1. a song, originating with African Americans, that is marked by the frequent occurrence of blue notes, and that takes the basic form, customarily improvised upon in performance, of a 12-bar chorus consisting of a 3-line stanza with the second line repeating the first.

   2. the genre constituting such songs.

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blues ² American  

[blooz] / bluz /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. any of various blue military uniforms worn by members of the U.S. armed services.

   dress blues.

2. a blue uniform for work; blue work clothes.

   a doctor in surgical blues.

3. Informal. police.

   The blues keep this neighborhood safe.

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blues ¹ British  

/ bluːz /

plural noun

1. a feeling of depression or deep unhappiness

2. a type of folk song devised by Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century, usually employing a basic 12-bar chorus, the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords, frequent minor intervals, and blue notes

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Blues ² British  

/ bluːz /

plural noun

1. the Royal Horse Guards

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blues Cultural  

1. A kind of jazz that evolved from the music of African-Americans, especially work songs and spirituals (see also spirituals), in the early twentieth century. Blues pieces often express worry or depression.

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blues Idioms  

1. see have the blues.

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Other Word Forms

• bluesy
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of blues¹

First recorded in 1740–50; cf. blue (in the sense “depressed in spirits; dejected; melancholy”)

Origin of blues²

see origin at blue, -s ³

Explanation

If you've got the blues, you probably want to lie in bed and cry — or get out your guitar and sadly sing the blues. Since the fourteenth century, the word blue has been used to mean "sad." The noun blues came into use in the 1700s to describe a state of sadness or melancholy. Around a hundred years later, a Black American musical genre adopted the word to describe its particular twelve-bar chord progression and folksy sound. Lyrics in blues music often describe hard times, struggles, and a particular kind of melancholy mood.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

blues Blues

Acts can span from bluegrass to blues, folk to funk, salsa to soul, and everything in between.

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

"I was put me in the back of an ambulance and I remember hearing the blues and twos," he recalls.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

She doesn’t imitate being the mother of the blues, as her character is known.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

If she drew herself right now, she’d use all the watery blues, her whole solid body dripping and melting into a puddle like the Wicked Witch of the West.

From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake

Chelsea: After a strong start under Xabi Alonso, the Blues have lost two of their past three - and were picked apart by Brentford.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Boehly, Walter and Wyss each had a 12.8% stake, with Clearlake previously owning 61.5% of the Blues.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Hazard, Willian, Matic and David Luiz all played for the Blues in 2016-17.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

Although the Blues beat them to the signing of Rogers, they still trail the standard-setters in London and the Premier League.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

All night the saxophones wailed the hopeless comment of the "Beale Street Blues" while a hundred pairs of golden and silver slippers shuffled the shining dust.

From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald