1
: of, relating to, or constituting the class of wage earners whose duties call for the wearing of work clothes or protective clothing compare white-collar
2
: having characteristics associated with blue-collar workers: such as
a
: having, showing, or appealing to unpretentious or unsophisticated tastes
… a new blue-collar serial … woven around a minor-league baseball team …Steven Flax
b
: dependable and hard-working rather than showy or spectacular
a blue-collar athlete

Examples of blue-collar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In Dallas, Texas, the tech company SkyPSI is investing $5 million in a RaaS business model that empowers blue-collar workers on a path to business ownership. Ray Fernandez, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026 The military has had trouble recruiting and retaining federal blue-collar workers who are specialists and required to conduct their work in remote environments around the world. Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026 Just ten miles from downtown Detroit, residents of the Southend neighborhood of Dearborn, a blue-collar immigrant community with a growing Arab population, were locked in a battle against the city. Rozina Ali, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2026 Marlon Andrade, a resident of Embu das Artes, a blue-collar town in the São Paulo metro area, has directed five short films and worked in various roles on three others. Marcelo Cajueiro, Variety, 20 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for blue-collar

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of blue-collar was in 1929

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Blue-collar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blue-collar. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

Kids Definition

blue-collar

adjective
ˈblü-ˈkäl-ər
: of or relating to the class of workers whose duties require work clothes
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster