blue-collar

adjective

blue-col·​lar ˈblü-ˈkä-lər 

1

: of, relating to, or constituting the class of wage earners whose duties call for the wearing of work clothes or protective clothing compare white-collar

2

: having characteristics associated with blue-collar workers: such as

a

: having, showing, or appealing to unpretentious or unsophisticated tastes

a new blue-collar serial … woven around a minor-league baseball team

—Steven Flax

b

: dependable and hard-working rather than showy or spectacular

a blue-collar athlete

Examples of blue-collar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These shocks land heavily on Hispanics, who are overrepresented in construction, service, and blue-collar work sensitive to inflation and policy disruptions. —Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025

More than just devastating the lives of these commuters — most of whom earn under $49,000 per year and work blue-collar jobs — each of these cars on the freeway is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. —Stan Oklobdzija, Mercury News, 16 Sep. 2025

Artificial intelligence and robotics are redefining both blue-collar and white-collar work. —Joseph Coughlin, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025

Sakura MurakamiBloomberg Success Meet a 23-year-old electrician who was a 'good student' but skipped college to join Gen Z's blue-collar revolution. —Nino Paoli, Fortune, 15 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for blue-collar

• footballer
• installer
• caller
• collar
• crawler
• dollar
• faller
• haller
• hauler
• holler
• scholar
• smaller

Kids Definition

blue-collar

adjective

ˈblü-ˈkäl-ər

: of or relating to the class of workers whose duties require work clothes