DEFINITIONS
The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...

blues

1
[ blooz ]
/ bluz /

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 American blacks, 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.

Words nearby blues

blueness, bluenose, bluepoint, blueprint, blueprinting, blues, blues-rock, blueschist, blueshift, bluesman, bluesnarfing

Origin of blues

1
1800–10, Americanism; cf. blue devils

OTHER WORDS FROM blues

blues·y, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for bluesy

British Dictionary definitions for bluesy (1 of 2)

Blues
/ (bluːz) /

pl n

the Blues British the Royal Horse Guards

British Dictionary definitions for bluesy (2 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
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 bluesy

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.

Idioms and Phrases with bluesy

blues

see have the blues.

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