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

Beneath Grisham’s pen, Dot Black was a blue-collar chain-smoker meant to stand in for all downtrodden Southern whites. —Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025

Recruit Fast’s Woo noted that AI skills are likely less relevant as prerequisites in blue-collar jobs as compared to other fields. —Dylan Butts shreya Ghosal, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2025

Meanwhile, blue-collar or trade laborers are expected to remain essential. —Eyal Lifshitz, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025

Adecco surveyed executives from nine different countries and eighteen different industries—including both white-collar and blue-collar jobs. —James Barrat, Big Think, 2 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