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

The blue-collar aesthetic of our city, after all, is really just incidental to our blue-collar ethic. — Will Kamin, Chicago Tribune, 18 Sep. 2026

Over the decades, the unassuming, borderline satirical roadside bar became a local landmark, attracting everyone from blue-collar workers and washed-up musicians to artists, retirees, bikers, and those who stop in simply to see what’s in a name. — Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 13 Sep. 2026

Doug worked every blue-collar job under the sun and made Tucker do chores on the farm from a young age. — Matt Schneidman, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Many older blue-collar workers – many of them former union members – across New England, the Great Lakes, Ohio and western Pennsylvania remain angry about the epic industrial collapse of the 1970s and 1980s. — The Conversation, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for blue-collar

• footballer
• installer
• caller
• choler
• collar
• crawler
• dollar
• faller
• haller
• hauler
• holler
• scholar

Kids Definition

blue-collar

adjective

ˈblü-ˈkäl-ər

: of or relating to the class of workers whose duties require work clothes