blue

/bluː/

//bluː// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"blue" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“blue” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #761 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.

#761
frequency rank, English
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of a blue hue.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

blue vs but
50% similar
blue vs buy
50% similar
blue vs bus
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for blue
PropertyValue
Headwordblue
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/bluː/
Letters4
Frequency rank#761
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “blue” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). blue lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for blue is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bluː/. Corpus data places it at rank #761 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for blue, with forms such as "bblue", "bleu", and "bllue". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "but", "buy", "bus", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew (“blue”), 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 Prot… The correct English form is blue, spelled B-L-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a blue hue.
  2. 2
    Depressed, melancholic, sad.
  3. 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.
  4. 4
    Pale, without redness or glare.
  5. 5
    Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue.
  6. 6
    Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue.
  7. 7
    Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue.
  8. 8
    Of, dominated by, or shifted toward the higher-frequency, or "bluer", end of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  9. 9
    Having a colour charge of blue.
  10. 10
    Extra rare; left very raw and cold.
  11. 11
    Having a coat of fur of a slaty gray shade.
  12. 12
    Severe or overly strict in morals; gloomy.
  13. 13
    Literary; scholarly; bluestockinged.
  14. 14
    Risqué; obscene; profane; pornographic.
  15. 15
    Drunk.

Etymology

From Middle English blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew (“blue”), 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 and Swedish blå (“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 *hēwijaz (“blue, purple”). (depressed): Compare typologically Russian тоска́ зелёная (toská zeljónaja) (<+ зелёный (zeljónyj)).

Synonyms

azureceruleannavysapphireadultX-ratedpornographic

Antonyms

nonblueunblueconservativeredRepublicanredantiblue

This word in other languages

azul(Español)bleu(Français)blau(Deutsch)azul(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bblue,bleu,bllue,bule,lbue

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of blue - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

bblue1bleu2bllue1bule2lbue2
Edit distance from "blue"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "blue"?
"blue" is spelled B-L-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bluː/.
What does "blue" mean?
As an adjective, "blue" means: Of a blue hue.
What words are commonly confused with "blue"?
"blue" is commonly confused with "but", "buy", "bus". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "blue"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blue" is /bluː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "blue"?
From Middle English blewe, from Anglo-Norman blew (“blue”), 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),... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “blue”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-L-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /bluː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “but” - see the side-by-side comparison. blue vs but
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list