baby blue

noun

1

: a pale blue

2

baby blues plural : blue eyes

She's a zaftig woman, with long red hair and a pale rose complexion setting off those baby blues.

—Michele Kort

3

baby blues plural in form but singular or plural in construction : a feeling of sadness that is experienced by a woman shortly after giving birth, that is typically accompanied by other symptoms (such as mood swings, crying spells, and insomnia), and that usually lasts less than two weeks : postpartum blues

Baby blues isn't an illness or even a proper psychiatric diagnosis, it is simply a way that people have tried to describe unpleasant feelings that occur shortly after having a baby and tend to resolve in a few days.

—Jackie Ganley

—usually used with the

a case of the baby blues

compare postpartum depression

Examples of baby blue in a Sentence

She gazed into his baby blues.

She had a bad case of the baby blues.

Recent Examples on the Web

She was spotted in Italy with a friend wearing a cropped black T-shirt, black trousers, a baby blue cashmere cardigan, and sage green Adidas Sambas. —Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2024

By the time the deputy stops running, a woman can be heard screaming as the camera shows the teen lying in the front yard, his body in a baby blue sweatsuit coming to rest. —Ben Brasch, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024

This shimmery baby blue shade is bippity-boppity beautiful. —Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 7 Mar. 2024

Night at the Theater Marisa Tomei wears baby blue plaid to the opening night of Broadway's An Enemy of the People on March 18 in N.Y.C. —Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 21 Mar. 2024

The knits are some of the best pieces: an alpaca mesh cardigan and tunic in a shade of tomato red or dusty baby blue, an oversized cashmere crew in Copenhagen blue, and an asymmetric slouchy turtleneck in mint green. —Laia Garcia-Furtado, Vogue, 20 Mar. 2024

The blue dresses, which also come in green and pink styles, have a baby blue top with ruffled sleeves and a white bottom skirt that features blue flowers and plant stems. —Alicia Geigel, Southern Living, 16 Mar. 2024

Embrace your dusty pinks, baby blues, and sage greens. —Claire Rutter, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2024

Now meme royalty, Sydney Sweeney’s Euphoria bathroom meltdown is also complemented by a pair of baby blue shimmering eyelids. —Emily Leibert, Allure, 25 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined at sense 1