blue-sky

adjective

\ ˈblü-ˈskī

Definition of blue-sky

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : marked by a blue cloudless sky : clear On a blue-sky day, it's easy to look up into the far-reaching atmosphere and marvel at the wonders that it holds …— Nick Carbone

2a : characterized by unconstrained optimism or imagination : visionary People need more quiet time to let their creative juices flow, time for blue-sky thinking early in a project, before too many constraints are applied.— Tim Stevens For a four-hour block on Saturdays, she might be a CEO in blue-sky mode, thinking exclusively about long-term strategy.— David Zax

b : overly optimistic about the future : unrealistic A world without potential war between major countries was until two years ago the stuff of utopian novels, blue-sky dreams of minds not grounded in reality.— Tom Clancy One of the issues that raises its head increasingly in crowdfunding is the danger that people may try and launch dubious campaigns to raise finance for blue-sky products that have no chance of success or even working.— John Kennedy

3a : having little or no value blue-sky stock

b : of or relating to blue-sky laws blue-sky regulations

blue-sky

verb

blue-skied also blue-skyed; blue-skying; blue-skies

Definition of blue-sky (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive + intransitive

: to offer ideas that are conceived by unrestrained imagination or optimism When you get the developers in a room blue-skying about the things that they want to do, it's incredible—these are really brilliant people who want to do great things.— Shari Steele Those people have blue-skied and pushed the envelope and wandered around aimlessly outside the box as if their lives depended upon it.— Jay Rayner But innovators, when they blue-sky an idea, don't dwell on words like "equity" and "business plan," he [Patrick Dowd] says. Instead it's about "vision and passion" and daring to fail.— Richard Leiby

blue sky

noun

plural blue skies

Definition of blue sky (Entry 3 of 3)

1 : a time or situation marked by easy progress or success Growth is back to its old powerhouse levels; there seems to be nothing but blue sky ahead on the inflation front.— Amity Shlaes Before such blue skies actually arrive, however, several major problems will have to be resolved.— Harry F. Walters et al.

2 : overly optimistic and unrealistic thinking about the future But this is all blue sky because … there is nothing remotely close to a commercial prototype.— Gregg Easterbrook