blond

[ blond ]

adjective

, blond·er, blond·est.

1. (of hair, skin, etc.) light-colored:

   the child's soft blond curls.

2. (of a person) having light-colored hair and skin.
3. (of furniture wood) light in tone.

noun

1. a blond person.
2. silk lace, originally unbleached but now often dyed any of various colors, especially white or black.

blond

/ blɒnd /

adjective

1. (of men'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 man, having light-coloured hair and skin

Usage

Although blond and blonde correspond to masculine and feminine forms in French, this distinction is not consistently made in English. Blonde is the commoner form both as a noun and an adjective, and is more frequently used to refer to women than men. The less common variant blond occurs usually as an adjective, occasionally as a noun, and is the preferred form when referring to men with fair hair

Spelling Note

See blonde.

Derived Forms

• ˈblondness, noun

Other Words From

• blondness noun
• blondish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of blond¹

First recorded in 1475–85; from Middle French blonde “blond, light brown,” feminine of blond, from Germanic; akin to Old English blondenfeax “gray-haired,” Latin flāvus “yellow” ( flavo- )

Word History and Origins

Origin of blond¹

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

Example Sentences

Studies have shown that certain activity-boosting mutations in the ion channel TPC2 are associated with fair skin, blond hair, and albinism.

From Science Daily

Keenan Gregor, who entered as a blond Harry, says he went along because he "wanted to be part of something that could go viral".

From BBC

Following the song’s debut, McGraw said: “This little 5-year-old blond girl came up and kind of tugged on my shirt and said, you know, ‘You just sang a song about my dad, didn’t you?’

From Los Angeles Times

He is very blond and buffed — not buff but, like sanded and polished.

From Los Angeles Times

It was just past 9 a.m. and Kanno, who is 63 and sports a flowing blond ponytail, had just hurried to his shop to tune into Game 4 of the World Series.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bleached
• blonde
• golden

Blond Vs. Blonde

What’s the difference between blond and blonde?

Blond and blonde 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 blond and blonde.

Quiz yourself on blond vs. blonde!

True or False? 

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