blue-collar

adjective

blue-col·​lar ˈblü-ˈkä-lər 

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

The industries that have continued adding significant numbers of workers in the past few months include manufacturing, transportation, retail and health care—what are normally considered blue-collar jobs. —Matt Robison, Newsweek, 18 Feb. 2025

Trump has portrayed himself as the protector of blue-collar workers and has picked one of the most pro-union Republicans in the House, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, to be his Secretary of Labor. —Chris Isidore, CNN, 15 Feb. 2025

Half of union members work for the government, and even in blue-collar occupations such as manufacturing and construction, 90 percent of workers are not union members. —The Editors, National Review, 12 Feb. 2025

At best, presidents picked up-and-coming party devotees like Elaine Chao, a shameless pro-boss hack, or Tom Perez, a nice guy for sure, who failed to deliver any significant gains for blue-collar America. —John Samuelsen, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

blue-collar

adjective

ˈblü-ˈkäl-ər

: of or relating to the class of workers whose duties require work clothes