blonde

[ blond ]

adjective

1. (of a woman or girl) having fair hair and usually fair skin and light eyes.

noun

1. a woman or girl having this coloration.

blonde

/ blɒnd /

adjective

1. (of women's hair) of a light colour; fair
2. (of a person, people or a race) having fair hair, a light complexion, and, typically, blue or grey eyes
3. (of soft furnishings, wood, etc) light in colour

noun

1. a person, esp a woman, having light-coloured hair and skin
2. Also calledblonde lace a French pillow lace, originally of unbleached cream-coloured Chinese silk, later of bleached or black-dyed silk

Spelling Note

The spelling blonde is still widely used for the noun that specifies a woman or girl with fair hair: The blonde with the baby in her arms is my anthropology professor. Some people object to this as an unnecessary distinction, preferring blond for all people: My sister is thinking of becoming a blond for a while. As an adjective, the word is more usually spelled blond in reference to all people ( an energetic blond girl; two blond sons ), although the form blonde is occasionally still used of a female: the blonde model and her escort. The spelling blond is almost always used for the adjective describing hair, complexion, etc.: His daughter has blond hair and hazel eyes.

Derived Forms

• ˈblondeness, noun

Other Words From

• blondeness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of blonde¹

blond

Word History and Origins

Origin of blonde¹

C15: from Old French blond (fem blonde ), probably of Germanic origin; related to Late Latin blundus yellow, Italian biondo , Spanish blondo

Example Sentences

The woman was said to have blonde hair and was wearing a black puffer coat, blue jeans and light-coloured shoes.

From BBC

And Mbuya’s personal favourite - jeans, a graphic T-shirt with her image on the front and a blonde wig.

From BBC

She even lip-synchs to her song in a bleach blonde wig and leather jumpsuit eerily similar to Anderson's own distinct look.

From Salon

Moments later, the smuggler - a tall figure with bright dyed blonde hair - turned away sharply, like a startled fox, and vanished down a narrow path into the woods.

From BBC

At a table in the VIP section, a man - Donald Trump - and his “attractive blonde” date came to greet her, she said.

From BBC

Related Words

• blond

Blonde Vs. Blond

What’s the difference between blonde and blond?

Blonde and blond are both adjectives most commonly used to describe the color of light or yellowish hair or someone who has such hair. They can also both be used as nouns referring to a person with such hair, as in Should I make this character a blond or a redhead? 

They are pronounced exactly the same. But there is a difference: the spelling blonde is typically used in a gender-specific way to refer to or describe women and girls with this hair color. In contrast, the use of blond in a gender-neutral way is very common. And when the word is used as an adjective, this spelling is much more commonly used, regardless of the gender of the person whose hair color is being described.

Blond and blonde derive from French, which has grammatical gender, meaning that some words end differently depending on whether they are applied to men or women (with e being the feminine ending). This happens in a few other pairs of words in English, like confidant and confidante, though in many cases the term without the e has become largely gender-neutral. This is the case with blond, which is the more commonly used of the two.

When describing the colors of things other than hair, such as wood or coffee, only the spelling blond is used.

When in doubt, remember that the spelling blond is appropriate in all cases.

Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between blonde and blond.

Quiz yourself on blonde vs. blond!

True or False? 

The spelling blond is only ever applied to men and boys.