blue

¹blue

adjective \ˈblü\

blu·er blu·est

Definition of BLUE

1

: of the color blue

2

a : bluish <the blue haze of tobacco smoke>

b : discolored by or as if by bruising <blue with cold>

c : bluish gray <a blue cat>

3

a : low in spirits : melancholy

b : marked by low spirits : depressing <a blue funk> <things looked blue>

4

: wearing blue

5

of a woman : learned, intellectual

6

: puritanical

7

a : profane, indecent <blue movie>

b : off-color, risqué <blue jokes>

8

: of, relating to, or used in blues <a blue song>

9

: tending to support Democrats in a general election <blue states>

— blue·ly adverb

— blue·ness noun

— blue in the face

: extremely exasperated

Examples of BLUE

1. <shocked at the blue banter she heard on that satellite-radio talk show>
2. <a cold, dreary day always leaves me blue>

Origin of BLUE

Middle English, from Anglo-French blef, blew, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German blāo blue; akin to Latin flavus yellow

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to BLUE

Synonyms

bawdy, obscene, coarse, crude, dirty, filthy, foul, gross, gutter, impure, indecent, lascivious, lewd, locker-room, nasty, pornographic, porny, profane, raunchy, ribald, smutty, stag, trashy, unprintable, vulgar, wanton, X-rated

Antonyms

clean, decent, G-rated, nonobscene, wholesome

Related Words

broad, coarse-grained, gamy (or gamey), off, off-color (or off-colored), racy, risqué, salacious, salty, suggestive; barnyard, earthy, scatological; immodest, indecorous, indelicate, low, unbecoming; depraved, kinky, louche, naughty, perverse, perverted, wicked; exceptionable, objectionable, unacceptable, undesirable, unwanted, unwelcome; abhorrent, debasing, disgusting, loathsome, offensive, repellent (also repellant), repugnant, repulsive, revolting; distasteful, obnoxious, unpleasant; blamable, blameworthy, censurable, reprehensible; atrocious, infamous; abusive, scurrilous; hard-core, soft, soft-core

Near Antonyms

priggish, prim, prudish, puritanical, staid, straitlaced (or straightlaced), Victorian; correct, decorous, genteel, nice, polite, proper, respectable, seemly; innocuous, inoffensive; acceptable, agreeable, desirable, pleasant, pleasing, welcome; appropriate, becoming, fit, meet, suitable; immaculate, perfect, pure, spotless, virginal; approved, endorsed (also indorsed), sanctioned

Other Color Terms

argentine, cerise, cerulean, cyan, ocher, perse, puce, taupe, vermilion

Rhymes with BLUE

boo, brew, chew, clew, clue, coo, coup, crew, cue, dew, do, doux, due, ewe, few, flu, flue, fou, glue, gnu, goo, hew, hue, Jew, Koo, lieu, loo, mew, moo, moue, mu, new, nu, ooh, pew, phew, pooh, q, queue, roux, rue, screw, shoe, shoo, shrew, Sioux, skew, slew, slough, slue, smew, sou, sous, spew, sprue, stew, strew, sue, Sue, thew, through, to, too, true, two, u, view, whew, who, woo, xu, yew, you, zoo

²blue

noun

Definition of BLUE

1

: a color whose hue is that of the clear sky or that of the portion of the color spectrum lying between green and violet

2

a : a pigment or dye that colors blue

b : bluing

3

a : blue clothing or cloth

b plural : a blue costume or uniform

4

a : a Union soldier in the American Civil War

b often capitalized : the Union army

5

a (1) : sky (2) : the far distance <disappeared into the blue>

b : sea

6

: a blue object

7

: bluestocking

8

: any of numerous small chiefly blue butterflies (family Lycaenidae)

9

: bluefish

10

: blue cheese

— out of the blue

: without advance notice : unexpectedly <the job offer came out of the blue>

Examples of BLUE

1. Her favorite color is blue.
2. a mixture of blues and greens
3. They sailed off into the blue.

First Known Use of BLUE

13th century

Related to BLUE

Synonyms

sky, firmament, heaven(s), high, welkin

Related Words

midair; horizon, skyline

Other Color Terms

argentine, cerise, cerulean, cyan, ocher, perse, puce, taupe, vermilion

³blue

verb

blued blue·ing or blu·ing

Definition of BLUE

transitive verb

: to make blue

intransitive verb

: to turn blue

First Known Use of BLUE

1606