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blues

1
[ blooz ]
/ bluz /
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noun
the blues, (used with a plural verb) depressed spirits; despondency; melancholy: This rainy spell is giving me the blues.
(used with a singular verb)Jazz.
  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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Origin of blues

1
First recorded in 1740–50; cf. blue (in the sense “depressed in spirits; dejected; melancholy”)

OTHER WORDS FROM blues

bluesy, adjective

Words nearby blues

blue-rinse, blue rockfish, Blue Rod, blue run, blue runner, blues, blue schist, blue screen, blue screen technology, blue shark, Blue Shield

Other definitions for blues (2 of 2)

blues2
[ blooz ]
/ bluz /
noun (used with a plural verb)
any of various blue military uniforms worn by members of the U.S. armed services: dress blues.
a blue uniform for work; blue work clothes: a doctor in surgical blues.
Informal. police: The blues keep this neighborhood safe.

Origin of blues

2
see origin at blue, -s3
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to blues

dejection, despondency, doldrums, dumps, gloom, gloominess, glumness, melancholy, moodiness, mournfulness, sadness, unhappiness

How to use blues in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for blues (1 of 2)

blues
/ (bluːz) /
pl n the blues (sometimes functioning as singular)
a feeling of depression or deep unhappiness
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

Derived forms of blues

bluesy, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for blues (2 of 2)

Blues
/ (bluːz) /
pl n
the Blues British the Royal Horse Guards
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

Cultural definitions for blues

blues

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with blues

blues

see have the blues.

The American HeritageŸ Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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