blue jeans

American

noun

(used with a plural verb)

close-fitting trousers made of blue denim or denimlike fabric, having pockets and seams often reinforced with rivets, and worn originally as work pants but now also as casual attire by persons of all ages.

Usage

What are blue jeans? Blue jeans are a type of pants traditionally made from denim (a kind of cotton fabric). Blue jeans are commonly just called jeans. Jeans can be other colors, but they’re most commonly blue. The defining feature of most jeans is that they’re made out of some kind of denim or denim-like fabric. Most jeans have seams and pockets that are reinforced with rivets—small metal fasteners. The word jeans can technically be used to refer to pants made from other materials, such as corduroy, but this isn’t common. For example, pants made out of corduroy are commonly called corduroys. Blue jeans were originally worn as pants for rugged work, but they are now most commonly worn as casual attire. Like the words pants and trousers, jeans is always used in the plural form when referring to the pants. The word jean (without an s at the end) can be used to refer to the material and is typically used as a modifier to describe garments that are made of this material, as in jean jacket or jean shorts. Example: I love being able to wear blue jeans to work on casual Fridays.

Etymology

Origin of blue jeans

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a black zip-up jumper, he was remanded into custody earlier and is next due to appear at Swindon Crown Court for a hearing on 23 January.

From BBC • Dec. 23, 2025

At a time when American blue jeans and rock ’n’ roll were officially banned in the Soviet Union, Pepsi became the first U.S. consumer product broadly available there.

From Slate • Nov. 13, 2025

RFK had sweated through a teal t-shirt, which he had tucked into blue jeans.

From Salon • Aug. 20, 2025

A video, shared widely online, shows police arresting a young man with a boyish face and hair over his shoulders, wearing blue jeans and a green T-shirt.

From BBC • Jun. 13, 2025

I was back up to watch, having eaten some lunch and changed back to my blue jeans.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023