• synonyms


See more synonyms for blue on Thesaurus.com
  2. bluing.
  5. (often initial capital letter) a member of the Union army in the American Civil War or the army itself.Compare gray1(def 13).
  6. bluestocking.
  7. blue ribbon(def 1).
  9. Printing. blueline.
  10. the blue,
    1. the sky.
    2. the sea.
    3. the remote distance: They've vanished into the blue somewhere.
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adjective, blu·er, blu·est.
  1. of the color of blue: a blue tie.
  2. (initial capital letter) of or relating to the Union army in the American Civil War.
  4. depressed in spirits; dejected; melancholy: She felt blue about not being chosen for the team.
  5. holding or offering little hope; dismal; bleak: a blue outlook.
  8. (of an animal's pelage) grayish-blue.
  9. indecent; somewhat obscene; risqué: a blue joke or film.
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verb (used with object), blued, blu·ing or blue·ing.
  1. to make blue; dye a blue color.
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verb (used without object), blued, blu·ing or blue·ing.
  1. to become or turn blue.
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Origin of blue

Related formsblue·ly, adverbblue·ness, nounhalf-blue, adjectiveun·blued, adjective
Can be confusedblew blue


See more synonyms for blue on Thesaurus.com


14. happy.

Examples from the Web for blued

Historical Examples


    The Good Soldier

    Ford Madox Ford

  • It is blued and carved in gold relief in the Italian renaissance style.

    Spanish Arms and Armour

    Albert F. Calvert

  • A blued finish is also to be preferred when shooting in the sunlight.

    Pistol and Revolver Shooting

    A. L. A. Himmelwright

  • You brought down two thousand pounds with you, and you blued it.

    Miser Farebrother (vol 3 of 3)

    Benjamin Leopold Farjeon

  • It looked like a small automatic of blued steel, but it was plastic.

    The Enormous Room

    Horace Leonard Gold

British Dictionary definitions for blued


  1. any of a group of colours, such as that of a clear unclouded sky, that have wavelengths in the range 490–445 nanometres. Blue is the complementary colour of yellow and with red and green forms a set of primary coloursRelated adjective: cyanic
  2. a dye or pigment of any of these colours
  3. blue cloth or clothingdressed in blue
    2. the honour of so representing one's university
  4. British an informal name for Tory
  6. archaic short for bluestocking
  7. slang a policeman
  9. a blue ball in snooker, etc
  10. another name for blueing
  11. Australian and NZ slang an argument or fighthe had a blue with a taxi driver
  12. Also: bluey Australian and NZ slang a court summons, esp for a traffic offence
  13. Australian and NZ informal a mistake; error
  14. out of the blue apparently from nowhere; unexpectedlythe opportunity came out of the blue
  15. into the blue into the unknown or the far distance
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adjective bluer or bluest
  1. of the colour blue
  2. (of the flesh) having a purple tinge, as from cold or contusion
  3. depressed, moody, or unhappy
  4. dismal or depressinga blue day
  5. indecent, titillating, or pornographicblue films
  6. bluish in colour or having parts or marks that are bluisha blue fox; a blue whale
  7. rare aristocratic; noble; patriciana blue family See blue blood
  8. US relating to, supporting, or representing the Democratic PartyCompare red 1 (def. 18)
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verb blues, blueing, bluing or blued
  1. to make, dye, or become blue
  2. (tr) to treat (laundry) with blueing
  3. (tr) slang to spend extravagantly or wastefully; squander
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See also blues
Derived Formsbluely, adverbblueness, noun

Word Origin




  1. Australian informal a nickname for a person with red hair
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Word Origin and History for blued



c.1300, bleu, blwe, etc., from Old French blo "pale, pallid, wan, light-colored; blond; discolored; blue, blue-gray," from Frankish *blao or some other Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *blæwaz (cf. Old English blaw, Old Saxon and Old High German blao, Danish blaa, Swedish blå, Old Frisian blau, Middle Dutch bla, Dutch blauw, German blau "blue"), from PIE *bhle-was "light-colored, blue, blond, yellow," from PIE root bhel- (1) "to shine, flash" (see bleach (v.)).

The same PIE root yielded Latin flavus "yellow," Old Spanish blavo "yellowish-gray," Greek phalos "white," Welsh blawr "gray," Old Norse bla "livid" (the meaning in black and blue), showing the usual slippery definition of color words in Indo-European The present spelling is since 16c., from French influence (Modern French bleu).



The color of constancy since Chaucer at least, but apparently for no deeper reason than the rhyme in true blue (c.1500). From early times blue was the distinctive color of the dress of servants, which may be the reason police uniforms are blue, a tradition Farmer dates to Elizabethan times. For blue ribbon see cordon bleu under cordon. Blue whale attested from 1851, so called for its color. The flower name blue bell is recorded by 1570s. Blue streak, of something resembling a blt of lightning (for quickness, intensity, etc.) is from 1830, U.S. Western slang.

Many Indo-European languages seem to have had a word to describe the color of the sea, encompasing blue and green and gray; e.g. Irish glass (see Chloe); Old English hæwen "blue, gray," related to har (see hoar); Serbo-Croatian sinji "gray-blue, sea-green;" Lithuanian šyvas, Russian sivyj "gray."

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"to make blue," c.1600, from blue (1).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with blued

