a type of folksong that originated among Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century; has a melancholy sound from repeated use of blue notes
"After hearing the old man play his harmonica, I realized he was performing traditional blues songs."
plural of blue
"After losing his job, he spent the whole weekend wrapped in a deep sense of blues that made it hard to get out of bed."
A feeling of sadness or depression.
"She listened to his story of growing up in poverty and saw that he finally understood her deep blues after losing her job."
One's particular life experience, particularly including the hardships one has faced.
In plain English: Blues is a feeling of sadness or depression that makes you feel down and blue.
"She sat on the porch with a guitar in hand, singing songs to lift her blues."
Usage: Use "the blues" to describe a temporary feeling of sadness or depression, often referring to a specific mood rather than a clinical condition. Do not use the plural form for a single instance of unhappiness unless you are invoking the idiom for a general state of being down.
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of blue
"The sky remains a deep blue as the sun sets behind the hills."
In plain English: To blues means to feel sad or depressed.
"The old blues finally left him after he heard the good news."
Usage: Do not use "blues" as a verb to mean making something blue; the correct third-person singular form is "blues" only when referring to the musical genre or mood, while the action of dyeing or coloring remains strictly "blue." In everyday usage, avoid conjugating the adjective with an -s ending unless you are specifically talking about someone who plays or feels the blues.
any of several sports teams whose uniform is predominantly blue.
"The local team celebrated their victory when the entire stadium was painted in support of the blues."
The word "blues" originally referred to the Sea Blues, a racing faction in ancient Rome and medieval Byzantium. This term entered English as a translation of their Latin name venetī ("Sea-Blues") or Greek equivalent Bénetoi.