blue blood
Americannoun
-
an aristocrat, noble, or member of a socially prominent family.
-
aristocratic, noble, or socially prominent lineage or relatives.
They boasted a lineage of pure blue blood.
noun
Other Word Forms
- blue-blooded adjective
Etymology
Origin of blue blood
1825–35; translation of Spanish sangre azul. See sanguine, azure
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.
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
In the brave new world of college football, blue blood means nothing.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 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
Both have learned that being considered a blue blood doesn’t put extra points on the scoreboard.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2024
But love, which laughs at iron bars, makes also mock at the effrontery of blue blood.
From Love's Usuries by Creswicke, Louis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
