SINCE 1828

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

the blues

Definition of the blues

: a feeling of sadness or depression I've got (a case of) the blues.

Word by Word Definitions

: low spirits : melancholy
: a song often of lamentation characterized by usually 12-bar phrases, 3-line stanzas in which the words of the second line usually repeat those of the first, and continual occurrence of blue notes in melody and harmony
: jazz or popular music using harmonic and phrase structures of blues

See the full definition of blues

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up the blues? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

depredate

play

to plunder or ravage

Words at Play

watercolor-squares

We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square

It's about (you? your?) having your say.

Devilish Words

Don't blame a word use error on the devil.

alt-599492594f435

How 'Wonderful' Lost Its Sense of Wonder

A case of semantic bleaching

dog-covering-face

Don't Let Reading This Be Another 'Coulda' 'Shoulda' 'Woulda'

PSA: They're three separate words.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066

Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless

Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals

Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first

Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

Take the quiz

Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

Take the quiz

Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz

Word Winder's CrossWinder

Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game