blues

IPA/bluːz/
KK[blˈuz]IPA/bluːz/

blues — noun

1. a style of slow, soulful music born among Black communities in the American Sout

1.nounB1
Definition

a style of slow, soulful music born among Black communities in the American South, marked by melancholy melodies and lyrics about hardship, lost love, or daily struggle.

Example

Élise grew up listening to her father play the blues on an old guitar.

collocation: play the blues

The bar in Chicago has hosted live blues every Friday night for forty years.

noun modifier: live blues / blues night

Common collocations
  • play the blues
  • sing the blues
  • the blues tradition
  • blues guitarist
  • blues festival
Synonyms
  • rhythm and blues

    broader urban genre that grew out of the blues; faster and more dance-oriented

  • soul

    later style that fused blues with gospel; emotional but less guitar-centred

Grammar Patterns

the blues

play/sing the blues

Usage Note

Almost always takes the definite article 'the'. Used as both a count-style label for the genre and as a modifier (blues band, blues guitarist, blues festival).

Common Mistakes

I love to listen to blues.
I love to listen to the blues.
the genre normally takes 'the'.

2. a mood of low spirits or gentle sadness, often mild and short-lived rather than

2.nounB2
Definition

a mood of low spirits or gentle sadness, often mild and short-lived rather than a serious illness; the kind of dull, flat feeling that comes from loneliness, bad weather, or things not going well.

Example

Sivan always gets the blues during the long, grey weeks after the holidays.

pattern: get the blues + time phrase

Karim had the blues all weekend after his closest friend moved away to Berlin.

pattern: have the blues + cause clause

Common collocations
  • have the blues
  • get the blues
  • feel the blues
  • winter blues
  • Monday blues
  • post-holiday blues
Synonyms
  • the doldrums

    very similar but stresses being stuck in low spirits without energy

  • low mood

    neutral, slightly clinical; lacks the casual flavour of 'the blues'

  • melancholy

    literary; deeper and more lingering than 'the blues'

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

have the blues

feel the blues

get the blues

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1 (the music): this sense is always paired with verbs of feeling — 'have', 'get', 'feel', 'fight off' — and is usually mild. For clinical depression, English uses 'depression', not 'the blues'.

Common Mistakes

My doctor said I have the blues and prescribed medication.
My doctor said I have depression and prescribed medication.
'the blues' implies a passing low mood, not a diagnosed condition.

3. a single song or instrumental piece written in the blues style, typically built

3.nounC1
Definition

a single song or instrumental piece written in the blues style, typically built on a twelve-bar pattern with three-line verses that repeat the first line.

Example

Reuben opened the set with a slow blues in the key of E minor.

pattern: a blues in [key]

The album closes with a quiet blues about leaving the city for good.

pattern: a blues about [topic]

Common collocations
  • a slow blues
  • a twelve-bar blues
  • write a blues
  • play a blues
Synonyms
  • blues number

    musicians' slang for a single blues piece in a set list

  • twelve-bar

    names the song by its standard structure rather than its genre

Grammar Patterns

a blues

play a blues in [key]

Usage Note

Only sense that is countable. Distinguish from sense 1 ('the blues' = the whole genre) — here 'a blues' or 'three blues' refers to specific musical pieces in that style.

Common Mistakes

She wrote a blue last night.
She wrote a blues last night.
the singular keeps the final -s; 'a blue' would mean something else entirely.

Word family

  • blue
    adjectiveA1
  • bluesy
    adjectiveC1
  • bluesman
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

All four describe being in low spirits, but the strength and register differ. 'The blues' is the everyday, informal choice for a mild, passing sadness — a flat mood after a hard week, a grey Sunday afternoon. 'The doldrums' overlaps closely but emphasises feeling stuck and unmotivated, as if becalmed. 'Melancholy' is literary and quieter; it suggests a thoughtful, lingering sadness that the speaker almost values, not a state to be cured. 'Depression' is the clinical and serious term — a medical condition rather than a mood. Compare: 'I've got the blues today' (passing low mood, you'll be fine tomorrow) versus 'She has been treated for depression for two years' (a diagnosed illness).

the blues ↗the doldrumsmelancholy ↗depression ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • blues band
  • blues guitarist
  • blues festival
  • blues singer

Phrases

  • have the blues
  • sing the blues
  • play the blues
  • the winter blues

Prepositions

  • with the blues

Etymology

English

Short for 'blue devils', an English expression from the 1600s for low spirits or depressing visions. The shortened form 'the blues' for sad feelings was already common by the early 1800s. The musical sense — the African-American song style from the southern US — took the name in the late 1800s and became fixed in print around 1912 with W. C. Handy's published compositions, because the songs voiced exactly that mood.