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

Logan was the smallest school in the Big Rivers Conference, and students came from lower-income, blue-collar families. —Neil Milbert, Chicago Tribune, 29 June 2025

This trend accelerated after the North American Free Trade Agreement in the '90s, and has significantly contributed to the decline of high-paying blue-collar jobs. —Kristen Waggoner, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025

Claiming a historic gain in blue-collar wage growth, Trump shows how to use statistics to mislead, argues columnist Michael Hiltzik. —Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 24 June 2025

Those blue-collar beginnings helped push Irwin to the 1967 NCAA title with the CU Buffs and first-team all-Big Eight recognition as a defensive back in football. —Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 23 June 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