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

To be sure, some of Gen Z’s blue-collar pivot is driven by the same AI anxiety Priestley described—and a realization college may not really be worth it anymore. —Sydney Lake, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2026

The post sent shock waves across the region, where Chavez was revered for decades, from blue-collar neighborhoods such as Pacoima, where the annual Cesar Chavez March for Justice has taken place for years, to rural pockets where farmworkers toil, to the halls of government. —Ryan Carter, Daily News, 18 Mar. 2026

Big Tech’s motivation is more sordid — to make billionaires even richer by eliminating the need to pay blue-collar workers’ wages. —John Samuelsen, New York Daily News, 17 Mar. 2026

The paper appealed to blue-collar workers and soon became a household name as journalists scooped other news outlets on stories and lawmakers referenced its articles in Parliament. —Dánica Coto, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026

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