bluer; bluest
1
: of the color whose hue is that of the clear sky : of the color blue (see blue entry 2 sense 1)
a blue jacket
her bright blue eyes
The house is blue with white shutters.
2
a
: bluish
the blue haze of tobacco smoke
b
: discolored by or as if by bruising
blue with cold
c
: bluish gray
a blue cat
3
a
: low in spirits : melancholy
has been feeling blue
b
: marked by low spirits : depressing
a blue funk
things looked blue
4
: wearing blue
the blue team
5
of a woman
: learned, intellectual
… the ladies were very blue and well-informed …—
W. M. Thackeray
W. M. Thackeray6
: puritanical
… a blue Sunday city …—James Street
James Street8
music
: of, relating to, or used in blues (see blues sense 3)
a blue song
9
US politics
: tending to support Democratic candidates or policies
As has become increasingly clear over the past few general elections, with their red states and blue states, an American Presidential campaign is no longer truly national.—Hendrik Hertzberg
compare purple sense 3, red sense 5
Hendrik Hertzberg
bluely
adverb
blueness
noun
plural blues
1
: a color whose hue is that of the clear sky or that of the portion of the color spectrum lying between green and violet
Blue is his favorite color.
shades of blue
2
a
: a pigment or dye that colors blue
b
: bluing
adding blue to the laundry
3
a
: blue clothing or cloth
will be wearing blue
b
blues plural
: a blue costume or uniform
wearing their dress blues
4
a
: a Union soldier in the American Civil War
b
often capitalized
: the Union army
the Blue versus the Gray
6
: a blue object
the horse that won the blue [=blue ribbon]
… is bartered … like a stack of blues [=blue chips] in a Reno casino.—John Lewis
John Lewis7
: bluestocking
praised the writings of her fellow blues
8
biology
: any of numerous small chiefly blue butterflies (family Lycaenidae)
9
: bluefish
fishing for blues
10
11
physics
: one of the three colors (see color entry 1 sense 15) that quarks have in the theory of quantum chromodynamics
One cannot have a single quark on its own because it would have a color (red, green, or blue). Instead, a red quark has to be joined to a green and a blue quark by a "string" of gluons (red + green + blue = white). Such a triplet constitutes a proton or a neutron.—Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
blued; blueing or bluing; blues
: to make (something) blue in color: such as
a
: to dye, tint, or paint (something) blue
Last, the generation of the grandmothers, in immaculately blued hair …—John Updike
John UpdikeTattoos blued his upper arms.—Jerry Spinelli
Jerry Spinelli
b
: to heat (iron or steel) to about 550 to 600°F (288 to 316°C) so that it acquires a bluish protective coating
the blued barrel of the gun
Between banks shrouded with snow, the river gleamed darkly, like blued steel with gold chips of sunlight dancing on each riffle.—Pete Bodo
Pete Bodo
: to turn blue
their blueing fingers
Phrases
blue in the face
: extremely exasperated
argued until he was blue in the face
: without advance notice : unexpectedly
the job offer came out of the blue
informal
: to curse angrily
He sliced the air with his fists and blued the air with his mouth.—Steve Kelley
Steve KelleyI have been stealing my father's copy (of Massachusetts Wildlife) for a long time, but last week he found an issue on my desk and blued the air a bit.—Stephen King Donovan
Stephen King DonovanSynonyms
Examples of blue in a Sentence
Adjective
was shocked at the blue banter on that satellite-radio talk show
a cold, dreary day always leaves me blue
Noun
Her favorite color is blue.
a mixture of blues and greens
They sailed off into the blue.
Recent Examples on the WebPhoebe Sklansky, Parents, 19 Apr. 2024
These separates are constructed from a silky polyester material in a dusty blue hue and have a relaxed fit.
—Jessie Quinn, Peoplemag, 18 Apr. 2024
Each pixel has a colored filter over it (either red, green, or blue), which only allows specific wavelengths of light to go through.
—Briley Lewis, Popular Science, 18 Apr. 2024
Here, the retiree shopped alongside the hipster, and the only colors that mattered were the bright blue and pink on the marquee of each store.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
These cloths come in your choice of blue or yellow and in five different pack sizes: three, 12, 24, 36, and 60.
—Jenna Clark, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Apr. 2024
Plus, the red or blue options are Fourth of July-coded.
—Alyssa Grabinski, Peoplemag, 7 Apr. 2024
Netanyahu could say the sky is blue and a thousand fact-checkers would scrub his claim for signs of misinformation.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 6 Apr. 2024
It’s-still-Marlins Park-to-me had the requisite Opening Day trappings of red, white and blue bunting, a military jets flyover and the ceremonial introductions of the full rosters of Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates along the baselines.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2024
Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 22 Apr. 2024
There are four other colors on sale, including a lilac purple and light blue.
—Taylor Jean Stephan, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
For a bathroom that feels like a relaxing retreat, look to soft neutrals and hues inspired by nature, including muted greens, pale blues, or soft pinks—but don't rule out moody, dark colors, which can also add a relaxing feel by upping the cozy factor.
—Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Apr. 2024
As part of a marketing deal with Pepsi, an Air France Concorde was painted in Pepsi blue in 1996.
—Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 14 Apr. 2024
Advertisement Think of Jets and Sharks decked out in buckskins or Yankee blue, ambling down our grubby streets, swapping mad-dog stares or whistling a few bars of those taunting tunes — pushing, egging, daring someone to start something.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Its limitless ambition and plurality of sounds—from jazz and blues to psychedelia, classical and folk—find fertile ground in the electricity of stage performances.
—Ernesto Lechner, SPIN, 11 Apr. 2024
The partial solar eclipse turned the sky from clear blue to cloudy gray over three hours on Monday.
—Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 9 Apr. 2024
Anybody in our profession looks at the University of Kentucky in basketball and says that is the bluest of blue.
—Wayne Sterling, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
Adjective
The slip-ons have anti-slip soles and come in black with a yellow smiley face or in white, with the option of a light blue, pink, medium blue, or yellow smiley.
—Phoebe Sklansky, Parents, 19 Apr. 2024
These separates are constructed from a silky polyester material in a dusty blue hue and have a relaxed fit.
—Jessie Quinn, Peoplemag, 18 Apr. 2024
Each pixel has a colored filter over it (either red, green, or blue), which only allows specific wavelengths of light to go through.
—Briley Lewis, Popular Science, 18 Apr. 2024
Here, the retiree shopped alongside the hipster, and the only colors that mattered were the bright blue and pink on the marquee of each store.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
These cloths come in your choice of blue or yellow and in five different pack sizes: three, 12, 24, 36, and 60.
—Jenna Clark, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Apr. 2024
Plus, the red or blue options are Fourth of July-coded.
—Alyssa Grabinski, Peoplemag, 7 Apr. 2024
Netanyahu could say the sky is blue and a thousand fact-checkers would scrub his claim for signs of misinformation.
—Matthew Continetti, National Review, 6 Apr. 2024
It’s-still-Marlins Park-to-me had the requisite Opening Day trappings of red, white and blue bunting, a military jets flyover and the ceremonial introductions of the full rosters of Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates along the baselines.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 28 Mar. 2024
Noun
Firefighters found one blue and one orange kayak just south of the train tracks near the bank, the fire department said in a news release late Tuesday.
—Sarah Nelson, The Indianapolis Star, 22 Apr. 2024
There are four other colors on sale, including a lilac purple and light blue.
—Taylor Jean Stephan, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
For a bathroom that feels like a relaxing retreat, look to soft neutrals and hues inspired by nature, including muted greens, pale blues, or soft pinks—but don't rule out moody, dark colors, which can also add a relaxing feel by upping the cozy factor.
—Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 17 Apr. 2024
As part of a marketing deal with Pepsi, an Air France Concorde was painted in Pepsi blue in 1996.
—Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 14 Apr. 2024
Advertisement Think of Jets and Sharks decked out in buckskins or Yankee blue, ambling down our grubby streets, swapping mad-dog stares or whistling a few bars of those taunting tunes — pushing, egging, daring someone to start something.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Its limitless ambition and plurality of sounds—from jazz and blues to psychedelia, classical and folk—find fertile ground in the electricity of stage performances.
—Ernesto Lechner, SPIN, 11 Apr. 2024
The partial solar eclipse turned the sky from clear blue to cloudy gray over three hours on Monday.
—Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 9 Apr. 2024
Anybody in our profession looks at the University of Kentucky in basketball and says that is the bluest of blue.
—Wayne Sterling, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blue.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near blue
Cite this Entry
“Blue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blue. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
blue
2 of 3 noun1
: the color of the clear daytime sky or of the colors of light between green and violet
2
: blue clothing or cloth
3
a
b
blue
3 of 3 verb
blued; blueing or bluing
: to make or turn blue
Medical Definition
blue
2 of 2 noun1
: a color whose hue is that of the clear sky or that of the portion of the color spectrum lying between green and violet
2
: a pigment or dye that colors blue see prussian blue
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