blue-collar

[ bloo-kol-er ]
See synonyms for blue-collar on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. of or relating to wage-earning workers who wear work clothes or other specialized clothing on the job, as mechanics, longshoremen, and miners.: Compare white-collar.

noun
  1. a blue-collar worker.

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Origin of blue-collar

1
First recorded in 1945–50

Words Nearby blue-collar

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blue-collar in a sentence

  • He must have been six, in a black velveteen suit with a light-blue collar-he remembered that suit well!

  • Then you've got your new Tussore with the blue collar and waistband.

    Emily Fox-Seton | Frances Hodgson Burnett
  • He says he feels sorry for any one who has to wear a pink shirt with a blue collar.

  • Sailors' costume consists of a white shirt, with blue collar and cuffs, black handkerchief about the neck, and black tarpaulin.

  • In industry, the proportion of women in blue-collar and white-collar jobs was about equal.

    Area Handbook for Romania | Eugene K. Keefe, Donald W. Bernier, Lyle E. Brenneman, William Giloane, James M. Moore, and Neda A. Walpole

British Dictionary definitions for blue-collar

blue-collar

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or designating manual industrial workers: a blue-collar union Compare white-collar, pink-collar

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for blue-collar

blue-collar

A descriptive term widely used for manual laborers, as opposed to white-collar for office workers.

Notes for blue-collar

The term is often associated with conservative values.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.