blue-collar

English

Alternative forms

• bluecollar
• blue collar

Etymology

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.

Adjective

blue-collar (comparative more blue-collar, superlative most blue-collar)

1. Working class; engaged or trained in essentially manual labor.

   Blue-collar workers represent a diminishing segment of society.

   • 2013 February 14, Scott Tobias, “Film: Reviews: A Good Day To Die Hard”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1]:

     The blue-collar, vulnerable McClane of Die Hard wouldn’t even recognize the bulletproof, catchphrase-spouting superhero he’s become in the sequels.

   • 2020 January 2, Conrad Landin, “Strife and strikes in post-war Britain”, in Rail, page 53:

     Bargaining on this scale led the way for the NUR's successes in negotiating with the Big Four after 1921, and subsequently British Rail. Privatisation has put paid to much of that, but railway workers are still arguably the most powerful blue-collar workforce in Britain today.

2. Pertaining to the culture of blue-collar workers.

   Even as a tenured professor, she remained proud of her blue-collar values.

Related terms

• pink-collar
• white-collar

Translations

working class

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 藍領／蓝领 (zh) (lánlǐng)

• Finnish: sinikaulus-, työväen, työläis-
• Georgian: ლურჯსაყელოიანი (lurǯsaq̇eloiani)
• German: Arbeiterklasse (de) f
• Indonesian: kerah biru
• Irish: bóna gorm
• Japanese: ブルーカラー (burū karā)
• Korean: 블루칼라 (ko) (beullukalla)
• Russian: «си́ний воротничо́к» m («sínij vorotničók») (noun)
• Uyghur: كۆك ياقىلىق (kök yaqiliq)
• Welsh: coler las f

pertaining to the culture of blue-collar workers

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 藍領／蓝领 (zh) (lánlǐng)

• Finnish: sinikaulus-, työväen, työläis-
• Indonesian: kerah biru
• Irish: bóna gorm
• Russian: рабо́чий (ru) (rabóčij)
• Welsh: coler las f

Noun

blue-collar (plural blue-collars)

1. A blue-collar worker.
   • 1983, Susan Krieger, The Mirror Dance: Identity in a Women's Community, page 14:

     In ways, these people defined what it was to be a really good lesbian or a really good dyke. For example: You needed to be articulate or aggressive […] You either needed to be a university or community college person, or a real sincere and hardworking blue collar. If you were from one of the outlying towns, you were likely to have a black mark against you in the first place.