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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

blue.

Of a blue hue.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/bluː/Received-Pronunciation/blʉw/British, Southern, Standard/blu/Canada, US/blʉː/Australia
  1. Of a blue hue.

    the deep blue sea
    Why is the sky blue?
  2. Depressed, melancholic, sad.

    informal
  3. Having a bluish or purplish shade to the skin due to a lack of oxygen to the normally deep-red red blood cells; cyanotic.

    My hands were blue with cold.
    The divers got them out of the car just in time – they were starting to turn blue.
  4. Pale, without redness or glare.

    The candle burns blue.
  5. Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue. Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by the Democratic Party.

    US
    I live in a blue constituency.  Congress turned blue in the mid-term elections.
  6. Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue. Supportive of or related to the Liberal Party.

    Australian
    Illawarra turns blue in Liberal washout
  7. Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue. Supportive of or related to the Conservative Party.

    UK
  8. Of, dominated by, or shifted toward the higher-frequency, or "bluer", end of the electromagnetic spectrum.

  9. Having a colour charge of blue.

    particle
  10. Extra rare; left very raw and cold.

  11. Having a coat of fur of a slaty gray shade.

  12. Severe or overly strict in morals; gloomy.

    archaic
    blue and sour religionists;  blue laws
  13. Literary; scholarly; bluestockinged.

    archaic
  14. Risqué; obscene; profane; pornographic.

    informal
    His material is too blue for prime time.
    The air was blue with oaths.
  15. Drunk.

    dated · slang
Where this word comes from

From Middle English blew, blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew, from Middle French bleu, from Old French blöe, bleve, blef (“blue”), from Frankish *blāu (“blue”) (perhaps through a Late Latin blāvus, blāvius (“blue”) attested from Isidore of Seville), from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- (“yellow, blond, grey”). Cognate with dialectal English blow (“blue”), Scots blue, blew (“blue”), North Frisian bla, blö (“blue”), Saterland Frisian blau (“blue”), Dutch blauw (“blue”), German blau (“blue”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blå (“blue”), Faroese bláur (“blue”), Icelandic blár (“blue”), Latin flāvus (“yellow”), French bleu (“blue”), Middle Irish blá (“yellow”). Doublet of blow. Possibly related also to English blee (“colour”), from Old English blēo (“colour”); but direct derivatives of Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”) in Old English include: Old English blāw and blēo (“blue”), Old English blǣwen (“bluish, light-blue”), blǣhǣwen (“blue-coloured, bluish, violet or purple colour”, literally “blue-hued”). There seems to be a parallel connection in Germanic between words for blue and colour, dually exemplified by Proto-West Germanic *blīu (“colour, blee”) and *blāu (“blue”); and Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“colour, hue”) and *hāwī (“blue, purple”). (depressed): Compare typologically Russian тоска́ зелёная (toská zeljónaja) (<+ зелёный (zeljónyj)). Also compare фиоле́тово (fiolétovo).

noun/bluː/Received-Pronunciation/blʉw/British, Southern, Standard/blu/Canada, US/blʉː/Australia
  1. The colour of the clear sky or the deep sea; the colour midway between green and violet in the visible spectrum and one of the primary additive colours.

    countable · uncountable
  2. Anything coloured blue, especially to distinguish it from similar objects differing only in colour.

    countable · uncountable
    I don't like red Smarties. Have you got a blue?
  3. A blue dye or pigment.

    countable · uncountable
  4. Blue clothing.

    uncountable
    The boys in blue marched to the pipers.
  5. Blue clothing. A blue uniform. See blues.

    countable · in-plural · uncountable
  6. Blue clothing. A member of a sports team that wears blue colours; (in the plural) a nickname for the team as a whole. See also blues.

    countable · uncountable
  7. Blue clothing. An umpire, in reference to the typical dark-blue colour of the umpire's uniform. Sometimes perceived by umpires as derogatory when used by players or coaches while disputing a call.

    countable · slang · uncountable
  8. Blue clothing. Sporting colours awarded by a university or other institution for sporting achievement, such as representing one's university, especially and originally at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. See also full blue, half blue.

    countable · uncountable
  9. Blue clothing. A person who has received such sporting colours.

    countable · uncountable
  10. Blue clothing. A member of law enforcement.

    countable · slang · uncountable
  11. Blue clothing. A bluestocking.

    countable · historical · uncountable
  12. The sky, literally or figuratively.

    countable · uncountable
    The balloon floated up into the blue.
    His request for leave came out of the blue.
  13. The ocean; deep waters.

    countable · uncountable
  14. The far distance; a remote or distant place.

    countable · uncountable
  15. A dog or cat with a slaty gray coat.

    countable · uncountable
  16. One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of five points.

    countable · uncountable
  17. Any of the butterflies of the subfamily Polyommatinae in the family Lycaenidae, most of which have blue on their wings.

    countable · uncountable
  18. A bluefish.

    countable · uncountable
  19. An argument or brawl.

    Australia · colloquial · countable · uncountable
  20. A liquid with an intense blue colour, added to a laundry wash to prevent yellowing of white clothes.

    countable · uncountable
  21. Any of several processes to protect metal against rust.

    countable · uncountable
  22. A type of firecracker.

    UK · countable · uncountable
  23. One of the three colour charges for quarks.

    countable · particle · uncountable
  24. A member or supporter of the Conservative Party.

    UK · countable · uncountable
    He is a true blue.
  25. A blue cheese.

    countable · uncountable
  26. Risqué or pornographic material.

    slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English blew, blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew, from Middle French bleu, from Old French blöe, bleve, blef (“blue”), from Frankish *blāu (“blue”) (perhaps through a Late Latin blāvus, blāvius (“blue”) attested from Isidore of Seville), from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- (“yellow, blond, grey”). Cognate with dialectal English blow (“blue”), Scots blue, blew (“blue”), North Frisian bla, blö (“blue”), Saterland Frisian blau (“blue”), Dutch blauw (“blue”), German blau (“blue”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blå (“blue”), Faroese bláur (“blue”), Icelandic blár (“blue”), Latin flāvus (“yellow”), French bleu (“blue”), Middle Irish blá (“yellow”). Doublet of blow. Possibly related also to English blee (“colour”), from Old English blēo (“colour”); but direct derivatives of Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”) in Old English include: Old English blāw and blēo (“blue”), Old English blǣwen (“bluish, light-blue”), blǣhǣwen (“blue-coloured, bluish, violet or purple colour”, literally “blue-hued”). There seems to be a parallel connection in Germanic between words for blue and colour, dually exemplified by Proto-West Germanic *blīu (“colour, blee”) and *blāu (“blue”); and Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“colour, hue”) and *hāwī (“blue, purple”). (depressed): Compare typologically Russian тоска́ зелёная (toská zeljónaja) (<+ зелёный (zeljónyj)). Also compare фиоле́тово (fiolétovo).

verb/bluː/Received-Pronunciation/blʉw/British, Southern, Standard/blu/Canada, US/blʉː/Australia
  1. To make or become blue; to turn blue.

    ergative
  2. To treat the surface of steel so that it is passivated chemically and becomes more resistant to rust.

    transitive
  3. To brighten by treating with blue (laundry aid).

    transitive
  4. To fight, brawl, or argue.

    Australia · intransitive · slang
Where this word comes from

From Middle English blew, blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew, from Middle French bleu, from Old French blöe, bleve, blef (“blue”), from Frankish *blāu (“blue”) (perhaps through a Late Latin blāvus, blāvius (“blue”) attested from Isidore of Seville), from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- (“yellow, blond, grey”). Cognate with dialectal English blow (“blue”), Scots blue, blew (“blue”), North Frisian bla, blö (“blue”), Saterland Frisian blau (“blue”), Dutch blauw (“blue”), German blau (“blue”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish blå (“blue”), Faroese bláur (“blue”), Icelandic blár (“blue”), Latin flāvus (“yellow”), French bleu (“blue”), Middle Irish blá (“yellow”). Doublet of blow. Possibly related also to English blee (“colour”), from Old English blēo (“colour”); but direct derivatives of Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue”) in Old English include: Old English blāw and blēo (“blue”), Old English blǣwen (“bluish, light-blue”), blǣhǣwen (“blue-coloured, bluish, violet or purple colour”, literally “blue-hued”). There seems to be a parallel connection in Germanic between words for blue and colour, dually exemplified by Proto-West Germanic *blīu (“colour, blee”) and *blāu (“blue”); and Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“colour, hue”) and *hāwī (“blue, purple”). (depressed): Compare typologically Russian тоска́ зелёная (toská zeljónaja) (<+ зелёный (zeljónyj)). Also compare фиоле́тово (fiolétovo).

verb/bluː/Received-Pronunciation/blʉw/British, Southern, Standard/blu/Canada, US/blʉː/Australia
  1. To spend (money) extravagantly; to blow.

    dated · slang · transitive
Where this word comes from

Uncertain; possibly from blew, past tense of blow.

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.