blue-collar

adjective

blue-col·​lar ˈblü-ˈkä-lər How to pronounce blue-collar (audio)
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Instead, it will primarily be used for blue-collar front-line workers, the majority of whom are skilled technicians, the company said. Gabrielle Fonrouge, CNBC, 19 May 2026 McIlroy, with his charming Irish lilt and very blue-collar backstory, was tailor-made for the gig but he’s been humbled by golf plenty, too. Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 13 May 2026 By the 1980s, however, many of the area’s mines and factories had closed and the slow withdrawal of the industries that built the place left Wrexham facing the same post-industrial fate that had decimated blue-collar communities all over the world. Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026 At this gleefully un-sleek restaurant styled as a Korean blue-collar cabby spot, the menu has almost no choices and not all the banchan are created equal. Ligaya Mishan, New York Times, 11 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for blue-collar

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of blue-collar was in 1929

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Cite this Entry

“Blue-collar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blue-collar. Accessed 24 May. 2026.

Kids Definition

blue-collar

adjective
ˈblü-ˈkäl-ər
: of or relating to the class of workers whose duties require work clothes
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