blueprint

noun

blue·​print ˈblü-ˌprint 

plural blueprints

1

: a photographic print in white on a bright blue ground or blue on a white ground used especially for copying maps, mechanical drawings, and architects' plans

2

: something or someone resembling a blueprint (as in serving as a model or providing guidance)

… few foundations have taken a similar [investing] route, so there was no blueprint to follow.

—Paul Sullivan

He was an anomaly to the rap world when he arrived, but today he is the blueprint for a generation.

—Jeff Ihaza

especially : a detailed plan or program of action

a blueprint for success

blueprint transitive verb

blueprinted; blueprinting; blueprints

It was not something blueprinted from the start or based on a French bistro archetype; it's a restaurant that has grown and evolved …

—Ian McNulty

Synonyms

• arrangement
• design
• game
• game plan
• ground plan
• master plan
• plan
• program
• project
• road map
• scheme
• strategy
• system

Examples of blueprint in a Sentence

a blueprint for reforming the public school system

an ambitious young man with a remarkably detailed blueprint for becoming a millionaire by the age of 25

Recent Examples on the Web

And even if does show up for minicamp, right guard Zack Martin gave up the blueprint for a contract holdout last season. —Clarence E. Hill Jr., Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2024

Other key concerns for opponents are the blueprints’ plans for major street changes in both neighborhoods. —David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 May 2024

This Nobel Prize-winning science works by degrading the biological blueprints that RNA use to make proteins — without the genetic instructions, the troublesome proteins are never made and the gene is essentially muted. —Allison Deangelis and Elaine Chen, STAT, 23 May 2024

Katy Perry has spent seven seasons on American Idol searching for the best vocalists in the country, but according to her, only one singer is the blueprint: Ariana Grande. —Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 21 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

blueprint

1 of 2 noun

blue·​print

ˈblü-ˌprint

1

: a photographic print made with white lines on a blue background and used especially for copying mechanical drawings, maps, and architects' plans

2

: a detailed plan or program of action

blueprint

2 of 2 verb

: to make a blueprint of or for