blue

¹blue

adj \ˈblü\

blu·erblu·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

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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