Did you know?
There comes a moment in every young crayon user’s life when they graduate from the 8-count (or 16-count, perhaps) box to the treasure trove of 64 glorious sticks of differently colored wax, when they discover that there isn’t just one brown or orange or blue, that when it comes to colors, the sky’s the limit! Such a moment is often the first encounter people have with the word cerulean, a word that slips sibilantly off the tongue like a balmy ocean breeze. Like azure, cerulean describes things whose blue color resembles that of a clear sky; it’s often used in literature (especially travel writing) to paint an enticing image of an even more enticing vista, as in “the cerulean waters of a tropical lagoon.” While azure is thought to hail from the Persian word lāzhuward, with the same meaning, cerulean comes from the Latin adjective caeruleus, meaning “dark blue.” That word most likely comes from caelum, meaning “sky.”
Examples of cerulean in a Sentence
Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 May 2026
The film even allows another appearance by Andy’s cerulean-blue polyblend sweater.
—The Week Uk, TheWeek, 7 May 2026
Rogers also makes a less-obvious reference to the cerulean scene with a Dries van Noten tassel jacket that Miranda wears to the office cafeteria in the sequel.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 3 May 2026
Totoro standing in profile against a bright cerulean backdrop.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 1 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for cerulean
Cite this Entry
“Cerulean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cerulean. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cerulean
adjective
