Antonyms for blue

Grammar : Adj

Spell : bloo

Phonetic Transcription : blu

Definition of blue

Origin : 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 exact color to which the Gmc. term applies varies in the older dialects; M.H.G. bla is also 'yellow,' whereas the Scandinavian words may refer esp. to a deep, swarthy black, e.g. O.N. blamaðr, N.Icel. blamaður 'Negro' [Buck]Few words enter more largely into the composition of slang, and colloquialisms bordering on slang, than does the word BLUE. Expressive alike of the utmost contempt, as of all that men hold dearest and love best, its manifold combinations, in ever varying shades of meaning, greet the philologist at every turn. [John S. Farmer, "Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present," 1890, p.252]
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."

adj sky, sea color
adj sad
adj vulgar

Example sentences :

The walls are hung with blue Florentine silk, embossed in silver.
Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson

Charles had said as he fingered his throat, which was patched with black and blue.
Extract from : « Way of the Lawless » by Max Brand

A slip of blue paper fluttered to the floor as she unfolded it.
Extract from : « Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus » by Jessie Graham Flower

The blue egg was the first thing she thought of when she came into the room.
Extract from : « Life and Death of Harriett Frean » by May Sinclair

Her eyes were so blue that but for the association he would have called her Sapphira.
Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald

She raised her blue eyes toward the ceiling in a naive rapture.
Extract from : « Within the Law » by Marvin Dana

Then, abruptly, the blue eyes were softened in their fires, as by the sudden nearness of tears.
Extract from : « Within the Law » by Marvin Dana

She was a trifle subdued, with a puzzled look in her blue eyes.
Extract from : « K » by Mary Roberts Rinehart

She bounded about in the sun and chased the blue and yellow butterflies.
Extract from : « The Trail Book » by Mary Austin

They passed over the Blue Ridge where it breaks south into woody hills.
Extract from : « The Trail Book » by Mary Austin

Synonyms for blue

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019