bluestocking
[ bloo-stok-ing ]
/ ˈbluˌstɒk ɪŋ /
noun
a woman with considerable scholarly, literary, or intellectual ability or interest.
a member of a mid-18th-century London literary circle: Lady Montagu was a celebrated bluestocking.
RELATED WORDS
educated, erudite, knowledgeable, literate, polite, sophisticated, accomplished, civilized, genteel, cultivated, enlightened, urbane, intelligent, refined, tolerant, polished, versed, informed, traveled, lettered
Nearby words
- blueshift,
- bluesman,
- bluesnarfing,
- bluest eye, the,
- bluestem,
- bluestone,
- bluesy,
- bluet,
- bluethroat,
- bluethroat pikeblenny
Origin of bluestocking
1675–85; so called from the informal attire, especially blue woolen instead of black silk stockings, worn by some women of the group (def 2)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for bluestocking
bluestocking
/ (ˈbluːˌstɒkɪŋ) /
noun
usually derogatory a scholarly or intellectual woman
Word Origin for bluestocking
from the blue worsted stockings worn by members of a C18 literary society
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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bluestocking
also blue-stocking, 1790, derisive word for a woman considered too learned, traces to a London literary salon founded c.1750 by Elizabeth Montagu on the Parisian model, featuring intellectual discussion instead of card games, and in place of ostentatious evening attire, simple dress, including Benjamin Stillingfleet's blue-gray tradesman's hose which he wore in place of gentleman's black silk, hence the term, first applied in derision to the whole set by Admiral Boscawen. None of the ladies wore blue stockings. Borrowed by the neighbors in loan-translations, cf. French bas-bleu, Dutch blauwkous, German Blaustrumpf.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper