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bluesy

 - 5 dictionary results

blues

1  [blooz]
Use bluesy in a Sentence
–noun
1. the blues, (used with a plural verb) depressed spirits; despondency; melancholy: This rainy spell is giving me the blues.
2. (used with a singular verb) Jazz.
a. a song, originating with American blacks, that is marked by the frequent occurrence of blue notes, and that takes the basic form, customarily improvised upon in performance, of a 12-bar chorus consisting of a 3-line stanza with the second line repeating the first.
b. the genre constituting such songs.
Origin:
1800–10, Americanism; cf. blue devils

Related forms:
bluesy, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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blues   (blōōz)   
pl.n.   (used with a sing. or pl. verb)

  1. A state of depression or melancholy. Often used with the.

  2. A style of music that evolved from southern African-American secular songs and is usually distinguished by a strong 4/4 rhythm, flatted thirds and sevenths, a 12-bar structure, and lyrics in a three-line stanza in which the second line repeats the first: "The blues is an expression of anger against shame and humiliation" (B.B. King).


[Short for blue devils.]
blues'man n., blues'y adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

blues

A kind of jazz that evolved from the music of African-Americans, especially work songs and spirituals, in the early twentieth century. Blues pieces often express worry or depression.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

blues 
as a music form featuring flatted thirds and sevenths, possibly c.1895 (though officially 1912, in W.C. Handy's "Memphis Blues"); meaning "depression, low spirits" goes back to 1741, from adj. blue "low-spirited," c.1385.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: blues
Pronunciation: 'blüz
Function: noun plural but singular or plural in construction
: low spirits : MELANCHOLY —blue /'blü/ adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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