Blue — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

adjective noun verb /ˈblü/

Meaning & Definition of Blue

Blue (adjective)

  1. of the color whose hue is that of the clear sky, of the color blue
  2. bluish
  3. discolored by or as if by bruising

Blue (noun)

  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
  2. a pigment or dye that colors blue
  3. bluing

Blue (verb)

  1. to make (something) blue in color
  2. to dye, tint, or paint (something) blue
  3. to heat (iron or steel) to about 550 to 600°F (288 to 316°C) so that it acquires a bluish protective coating

Blue (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. depicting or referring to sexual matters in a way that is unacceptable in polite society

    "was shocked at the blue banter on that satellite-radio talk show"

    similar: bawdy, coarse, crude, dirty, filthy, foul, gross, gutter, impure, indecent, lascivious, lewd, locker-room, nasty, obscene, pornographic, porny, profane, raunchy, ribald, smutty, stag, trashy, unprintable, vulgar, wanton, X-rated
    related: broad, coarse-grained, gamy, off, off-color, racy, risqué, salacious, salty, suggestive, barnyard, earthy, scatological, immodest, indecorous, indelicate, low, unbecoming, depraved, kinky, louche, naughty, perverse, perverted, wicked, exceptionable, objectionable, unacceptable, undesirable, unwanted, unwelcome, abhorrent, debasing, disgusting, loathsome, offensive, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, distasteful, obnoxious, unpleasant, blamable, blameworthy, censurable, reprehensible, atrocious, infamous, abusive, scurrilous, hard-core, soft, soft-core
    opposite: clean, decent, G-rated, nonobscene, wholesome
    near: priggish, prim, prudish, puritanical, staid, straitlaced, Victorian, correct, decorous, genteel, nice, polite, proper, respectable, seemly, innocuous, inoffensive, acceptable, agreeable, desirable, pleasant, pleasing, welcome, appropriate, becoming, fit, meet, suitable, immaculate, perfect, pure, spotless, virginal, approved, endorsed, sanctioned

  2. feeling unhappiness

    "a cold, dreary day always leaves me blue"

    similar: bad, brokenhearted, cast down, crestfallen, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, doleful, down, down in the mouth, downcast, downhearted, droopy, forlorn, gloomy, glum, hangdog, heartbroken, heartsick, heartsore, heavyhearted, inconsolable, joyless, low, low-spirited, melancholic, melancholy, miserable, mournful, sad, saddened, sorrowful, sorry, unhappy, woebegone, woeful, wretched
    related: aggrieved, distressed, troubled, uneasy, unquiet, upset, worried, despairing, hopeless, sunk, disappointed, discouraged, disheartened, dispirited, suicidal, dolorous, lachrymose, lugubrious, plaintive, tearful, regretful, rueful, agonized, anguished, grieving, wailing, weeping, black, bleak, cheerless, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, desolate, dismal, drear, dreary, elegiac, funereal, gray, morbid, morose, murky, saturnine, somber, sullen
    opposite: blissful, buoyant, buoyed, cheerful, cheery, chipper, delighted, glad, gladdened, gladsome, gleeful, happy, joyful, joyous, jubilant, sunny, upbeat
    near: ecstatic, elated, enraptured, entranced, euphoric, exhilarated, exuberant, exultant, overjoyed, rapturous, rhapsodic, blithe, blithesome, jocose, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, lightsome, merry, mirthful, excited, thrilled, hopeful, optimistic, rosy, sanguine, encouraged, heartened, animated, bouncing, energetic, frisky, jaunty, lively, peppy, perky, spirited, sprightful, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippy, content, gratified, pleased, satisfied, beaming, grinning, laughing, smiling, boon, carefree, careless, cavalier, devil-may-care, easygoing, happy-go-lucky, insouciant, lighthearted, unconcerned

  3. hinting at or intended to call to mind matters regarded as indecent

    "a lighthearted comedy with a few moments of blue humor"

    similar: bawdy, gamy, lewd, off, off-color, racy, ribald, risqué, salty, spicy, suggestive
    related: leering, barnyard, coarse, coarse-grained, crude, earthy, foul, gross, vulgar, dirty, filthy, gutter, indecent, lascivious, locker-room, nasty, obscene, pornographic, porny, prurient, raunchy, smutty, stag, unprintable, unpublishable, warm, X-rated, immodest, indecorous, indelicate, naughty
    near: clean, decent, G-rated, nonobscene, innocuous, inoffensive, priggish, prim, prudish, puritanical, staid, straitlaced, Victorian, correct, decorous, genteel, nice, polite, proper, respectable, seemly

  4. much given to learning and thinking

    "a book club that had been founded many years earlier by the blue, progressive women of the city"

    similar: cerebral, eggheaded, geeky, highbrow, highbrowed, intellectual, intellectualist, intellectualistic, long-haired, nerdish, nerdy
    related: cultivated, cultured, erudite, learned, literate, polyhistoric, polymath, scholarly, well-read, academic, bookish, professorial, didactic, high-toned, hyperintellectual, pedantic, high-hat, snobbish, snobby, snooty, educated, schooled, brainy, bright, brilliant, clever, intelligent, quick-witted, smart
    opposite: anti-intellectual, lowbrow, nonintellectual, philistine
    near: uncultivated, uncultured, ignorant, illiterate, uneducated, unlettered, unread, dumb, foolish, idiotic, moronic, slow, stupid, unintelligent, benighted, unenlightened

Blue (noun) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

  1. the expanse of air surrounding the earth

    "the plane flew off into the blue and was never seen again"

    similar: firmament, heaven(s), high, sky, welkin
    related: midair, horizon, skyline

  2. the whole body of salt water that covers nearly three-fourths of the earth

    "pirate ships that sailed the vasty blue in search of treasure"

    similar: brine, deep, Neptune, ocean, sea, seven seas
    related: blue water, high seas, main, waters, basin, Davy Jones's locker, depths

Related Entry: Blue blood (noun)

Blue blood is a different word from Blue. The synonyms below are for blue blood, not for blue.

  1. a man or woman of high birth or social position

    "one need not be a blue blood to enjoy the amenities at the Royal Crown Hotel"

    similar: aristocrat, gentle, gentleperson, noble, patrician
    related: socialite, swell, magnate, magnifico, mogul, nabob, gentlefolk
    near: canaille, commoner, pleb, plebeian, proletarian, roturier, boor, fellah, peasant, peon

Related Entry: Blue-blooded (adjective)

Blue-blooded is a different word from Blue. The synonyms below are for blue-blooded, not for blue.

  1. of high birth, rank, or station

    "his blue-blooded in-laws and working class parents hit it off despite their different backgrounds"

    similar: aristocratic, genteel, gentle, grand, great, highborn, highbred, noble, patrician, silk-stocking, upper-class, upper-crust, wellborn
    related: high, lofty, superior, elevated, ennobled, exalted, gentlemanly, kingly, knightly, ladylike, lordly, princely, queenly, regal, royal, high-level, senior
    opposite: baseborn, common, humble, ignoble, low, lower-class, lowly, mean, nonaristocratic, plebeian, ungenteel
    near: inferior, knavish, bastard, illegitimate, ordinary, plain, abased, degraded, junior, subordinate

Related Entry: Blue-chip (adjective)

Blue-chip is a different word from Blue. The synonyms below are for blue-chip, not for blue.

  1. of the very best kind

    "because of his blue-chip crew, he's won yachting's biggest prize several times"

    similar: A-OK, A1, awesome, bang-up, banner, beautiful, blue-ribbon, boffo, bonny (chiefly British), boss (slang), brag, brave, bully, bumper, capital, choice, classic, cool (slang), corking, crackerjack, cracking, dandy, divine, dope (slang), down (slang), dynamite, excellent, fab, fabulous, famous, fantabulous (slang), fantastic, fine, first-class, first-rate, first-string, five-star, four-star, frontline, gangbusters, gilt-edged, gone (slang), grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-class, hot, hype (slang), immense, jim-dandy, keen, lovely, marvelous, mean, neat, nifty, noble, number one, numero uno, out-of-sight (slang), par excellence, peachy, peachy keen, phat (slang), prime, primo (slang), prize, prizewinning, quality, radical (slang), righteous (slang), sensational, slick, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, top-of-the-line, top-shelf, topflight, topping (chiefly British), unsurpassed, wizard (chiefly British), wonderful, out of this world, too much
    related: acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, good, OK, passable, satisfactory, tolerable, better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, high-test, premium, select, special, superfine, classical, standard, traditional
    opposite: atrocious, awful, execrable, lousy, pathetic, poor, rotten, terrible, vile, wretched
    near: bad, inferior, low-grade, substandard, unsatisfactory, mediocre, middling, second-class, second-rate

Related Entry: Blue devils (plural noun)

Blue devils is a different word from Blue. The synonyms below are for blue devils, not for blue.

  1. a state or spell of low spirits

    "the shorter daylight hours in winter always give me the blue devils"

    similar: blues, dejection, depression, desolation, despond, despondence, despondency, disconsolateness, dispiritedness, doldrums, dolefulness, downheartedness, dreariness, dumps, forlornness, gloom, gloominess, glumness, heartsickness, joylessness, melancholy, miserableness, mopes, mournfulness, oppression, sadness, sorrowfulness, unhappiness
    related: melancholia, self-pity, anguish, dolor, grief, mourning, somberness, sorrow, woefulness, agony, distress, pain, misery, woe, wretchedness, discouragement, disheartenment, moodiness, despair, desperation, hopelessness, self-despair, boredom, ennui, tedium, dismalness, drear, morbidness, moroseness, morosity, regret, rue
    opposite: bliss, blissfulness, ecstasy, elatedness, elation, euphoria, exhilaration, exuberance, exultation, felicity, gladness, gladsomeness, happiness, heaven, intoxication, joy, joyfulness, joyousness, jubilation, rapture, rapturousness
    near: gaiety, gayness, glee, gleefulness, humor, jollity, joviality, lightheartedness, merriment, mirth, mirthfulness, cheer, cheerfulness, cheeriness, hopefulness, optimism, sunniness, content, contentedness, contentment, satisfaction, delight, gratification

Related Entry: Blue moon (noun)

Blue moon is a different word from Blue. The synonyms below are for blue moon, not for blue.

  1. a long or seemingly long period of time

    "once in a blue moon we'll get dressed up and eat in a fancy restaurant"

    similar: age, coon's age, cycle, donkey's years (chiefly British), eon, eternity, forever, long, months, moon
    related: infinity, lifetime
    near: flash, instant, jiffy, minute, moment, second, shake, split second, trice, twinkle, twinkling, wink, microsecond, nanosecond

Related Entry: Blue-pencil (verb)

Blue-pencil is a different word from Blue. The synonyms below are for blue-pencil, not for blue.

  1. to show (something written) to be no longer valid by drawing a cross over or a line through it

    "military censors blue-penciled any remarks that could possibly be deemed critical"

    similar: cancel, cross (out), dele, delete, edit (out), elide, kill, scratch (out), strike (out), stroke (out), x (out)
    related: blot out, efface, eradicate, erase, expunge, obliterate, root (out), rub out, wipe out, bleep, blip, clip, cut, excise, remove, bowdlerize, censor, clean (up), expurgate, launder, redact, red-pencil, abbreviate, crop, shorten, black out, repress, silence, suppress

Related Entry: Blue-ribbon (adjective)

Blue-ribbon is a different word from Blue. The synonyms below are for blue-ribbon, not for blue.

  1. of the very best kind

    "your work on this project has been of blue-ribbon quality"

    similar: A-OK, A1, awesome, bang-up, banner, beautiful, blue-chip, boffo, bonny (chiefly British), boss (slang), brag, brave, bully, bumper, capital, choice, classic, cool (slang), corking, crackerjack, cracking, dandy, divine, dope (slang), down (slang), dynamite, excellent, fab, fabulous, famous, fantabulous (slang), fantastic, fine, first-class, first-rate, first-string, five-star, four-star, frontline, gangbusters, gilt-edged, gone (slang), grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-class, hot, hype (slang), immense, jim-dandy, keen, lovely, marvelous, mean, neat, nifty, noble, number one, numero uno, out-of-sight (slang), par excellence, peachy, peachy keen, phat (slang), prime, primo (slang), prize, prizewinning, quality, radical (slang), righteous (slang), sensational, slick, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, top-of-the-line, top-shelf, topflight, topping (chiefly British), unsurpassed, wizard (chiefly British), wonderful, out of this world, too much
    related: acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, good, OK, passable, satisfactory, tolerable, better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, high-test, premium, select, special, superfine, classical, standard, traditional
    opposite: atrocious, awful, execrable, lousy, pathetic, poor, rotten, terrible, vile, wretched
    near: bad, inferior, low-grade, substandard, unsatisfactory, mediocre, middling, second-class, second-rate

Related Entry: Blue ribbon (noun)

Blue ribbon is a different word from Blue. The synonyms below are for blue ribbon, not for blue.

  1. something given in recognition of achievement

    "the Pritzker Prize is widely regarded as the ultimate blue ribbon for architectural achievement"

    similar: accolade, award, decoration, distinction, honor, kudo, plume, premium, prize
    related: badge, crown, cup, laurel, medal, order, plaque, plate, ribbon, trophy, applause, bravo, encomium, eulogy, hallelujah, homage, paean, panegyric, plaudit, tribute, citation, commendation, compliment, honorable mention

Synonyms, Thesaurus & Another Word for Blue

The most common words with a similar meaning to Blue:

bawdy, coarse, crude, dirty, filthy, foul, gross, gutter, impure, indecent, lascivious, lewd, locker-room, nasty, obscene, pornographic, porny, profane, raunchy, ribald, smutty, stag, trashy, unprintable, vulgar, wanton, X-rated, bad, brokenhearted, cast down, crestfallen, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, doleful, down, down in the mouth, downcast, downhearted

Antonyms & Opposite Words for Blue

Words with the opposite meaning of Blue:

clean, decent, G-rated, nonobscene, wholesome, blissful, buoyant, buoyed, cheerful, cheery, chipper, delighted, glad, gladdened, gladsome, gleeful, happy, joyful, joyous, jubilant, sunny, upbeat, anti-intellectual, lowbrow, nonintellectual, philistine

Related Words for Blue

broad, coarse-grained, salacious, barnyard, earthy, scatological, immodest, indecorous, indelicate, unbecoming, depraved, kinky, louche, naughty, perverse, perverted, wicked, exceptionable, objectionable, unacceptable, undesirable, unwanted, unwelcome, abhorrent, debasing, disgusting, loathsome, offensive, repellent, repugnant

Near Antonyms of Blue

priggish, prim, prudish, puritanical, staid, straitlaced, Victorian, correct, decorous, genteel, nice, polite, proper, respectable, seemly, innocuous, inoffensive, acceptable, agreeable, desirable, pleasant, pleasing, welcome, appropriate, becoming, fit, meet, suitable, immaculate, perfect

Word Forms of Blue

Inflections: bluer, bluest, blues, blued, blueing, bluing

Derived words: bluely (adverb), blueness (noun)

Origin & Etymology of Blue

Middle English, from Anglo-French blef, blew, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German blāo blue; akin to Latin flavus yellow

First known use: 13th century

Vocabulary Lists & Topics for Blue

Words & Phrases Containing Blue

blue agave, Blue Alert, blue baby, blue blood, blue book, blue catfish, blue cheese

Frequently Asked Questions about Blue

What does "Blue" mean?

"Blue" means of the color whose hue is that of the clear sky, of the color blue. As an an adjective, a noun and a verb, it is defined as: of the color whose hue is that of the clear sky, of the color blue. It has 6 distinct senses.

What is another word for "Blue"?

Other words for "Blue" include bawdy, coarse, crude, dirty, filthy, foul, gross and gutter. The best synonym depends on which meaning of "Blue" you intend.

What are different ways to say "Blue"?

There are 231 words and phrases with a similar meaning to "Blue". Common alternatives include bawdy, coarse, crude, dirty, filthy, foul, gross, gutter, impure and indecent.

What is the opposite of "Blue"?

Antonyms of "Blue" include clean, decent, G-rated, nonobscene, wholesome, blissful, buoyant and buoyed. Near antonyms include priggish, prim, prudish and puritanical.

How do you use "Blue" in a sentence?

Examples of "Blue" in a sentence: "was shocked at the blue banter on that satellite-radio talk show"; "a cold, dreary day always leaves me blue"; "a lighthearted comedy with a few moments of blue humor".

Is "Blue" a noun, verb, or adjective?

"Blue" can be used as an adjective, a noun and a verb, depending on the context.

Is "Blue" useful for IELTS, TOEFL, and other English exams?

As an A1-level word, "Blue" is typical of Cambridge A1 Movers (Young Learners), TOEIC Listening & Reading 120+.

How do you pronounce "Blue"?

"Blue" is pronounced /ˈblü/.