blue blood

American  

[bloo bluhd, bloo bluhd] / ˈblu ˌblʌd, ˈblu ˈblʌd /

noun

1. an aristocrat, noble, or member of a socially prominent family.

2. aristocratic, noble, or socially prominent lineage or relatives.

   They boasted a lineage of pure blue blood.

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blue blood British  

noun

1. royal or aristocratic descent

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Other Word Forms

• blue-blooded adjective

Etymology

Origin of blue blood

1825–35; translation of Spanish sangre azul. See sanguine, azure

Example Sentences

It was Brown, a Rhode Island blue blood whose name now adorns an Ivy League university, who in 1790 financed Slater’s stolen ideas for a state-of-the-art cotton mill.

From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026

Long before Cignetti was laying waste to college football’s blue blood programs, his head coaching journey began in 2011 when he was hired by a once-proud Division II program called Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 13, 2026

No blue blood wants to fake excitement about schlepping to the Pop-Tart Bowl, no offense to those sentient Pop-Tarts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025

Part of the fun in discussions of who qualifies as a blue blood is that there’s rarely consensus.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024

Her hair doesn't comb straight either, but tends to swirls and cowlicks which are proof-positive of her blue blood in the same way that a cold nose is in a woman.

From Seeds of Pine by Canuck, Janey