blueprint

noun

blue·​print ˈblü-ˌprint 

plural blueprints

1

: a photographic print in white on a bright blue ground or blue on a white ground used especially for copying maps, mechanical drawings, and architects' plans

2

: something or someone resembling a blueprint (as in serving as a model or providing guidance)

… few foundations have taken a similar [investing] route, so there was no blueprint to follow.

—Paul Sullivan

He was an anomaly to the rap world when he arrived, but today he is the blueprint for a generation.

—Jeff Ihaza

especially : a detailed plan or program of action

a blueprint for success

blueprint transitive verb

blueprinted; blueprinting; blueprints

It was not something blueprinted from the start or based on a French bistro archetype; it's a restaurant that has grown and evolved …

—Ian McNulty

Synonyms

• arrangement
• design
• game
• game plan
• ground plan
• master plan
• plan
• program
• project
• road map
• scheme
• strategy
• system

Examples of blueprint in a Sentence

a blueprint for reforming the public school system

an ambitious young man with a remarkably detailed blueprint for becoming a millionaire by the age of 25

Recent Examples on the Web

That blueprint became the bedrock for the medical drama’s sets even as Wells and the writing team were beginning to work out the storylines that would pulse and careen across the pristine hospital floors. —Mark Peikert, IndieWire, 31 Jan. 2025

That blueprint also declared several Chilean sites as renewable energy hubs; the complex would be located within one of them. —Katherine Helen Laliotis, Scientific American, 29 Jan. 2025

The order to freeze assistance reflects some of the goals of Project 2025, a policy blueprint written by conservatives for a second Trump administration that sought drastic funding cuts and reorganization of the federal government. —Nicholas Kusnetz, WIRED, 29 Jan. 2025

People can learn about blueprint reading, shop mathematics, mechanical drawing and electricity in these courses. —Kayla Jimenez, USA TODAY, 28 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

blueprint

1 of 2 noun

blue·​print

ˈblü-ˌprint

1

: a photographic print made with white lines on a blue background and used especially for copying mechanical drawings, maps, and architects' plans

2

: a detailed plan or program of action

blueprint

2 of 2 verb

: to make a blueprint of or for