Skip to the word

Added 10 October 2026

blue-collar

adjective

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). More about blue-collar at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Working class; engaged or trained in essentially manual labor.
Blue-collar workers represent a diminishing segment of society.
Pertaining to the culture of blue-collar workers.
Even as a tenured professor, she remained proud of her blue-collar values.

noun

A blue-collar worker.

Origin

From blue + collar. From the color of rugged denim and chambray work shirts often worn by manual workers, as opposed to the white dress shirts typically worn by professionals and clerical workers.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word