powder blue
3
3.4
- adjective
- /ˈpaʊdər blu/
:
azul polvo
- The walls of the nursery were painted a soft powder blue, creating a calm environment for the baby.
- powder blue suit
- powder blue shirt
- powder blue tuxedo
Examples
-
She wore a pair of powder-blue pajamas, and her hair was twisted and fastened in the back into pigtails.
Fiction book (2002) -
Cordy picked out a powder blue one.
Fiction book (1990) -
We were gonna go with powder blue.
-
It's kind of like a powder blue, coral blue.
-
The powder blue exterior of the Book Gallery was attractive, with its little white tables.
Fiction book (1990) -
Powder blue leisure suit.
-
Jimmy wore white trousers and a powder-blue blazer with a dark blue knit tie.
Fiction book (1991) -
They drove in the powder blue Thunderbird all the way to San Francisco, choosing roads to detour on and music for the tape deck.
Fiction book (1992) -
Dot stepped over the pile of ironed and unfolded dresses, pastel mint greens and powder blues.
Fiction book (1990) -
Janice, wearing a soft salmon-colored running suit with powder-blue sleeves and pants stripes, leads, and Nelson, Roy, Pru, and Judy, all in their airplane clothes, follow, hurrying to keep up.
Fiction book (1990)
Synonyms
19
1.2
Slightly blue in color
16
1.0
A pale shade of blue like the sky on a clear day
14
1.0
A light, soft shade of blue like the sky
1
3.0
A blue color with a little purple in it
A light soft blue color like pale flowers or a clear sky
Antonyms
How Pale
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'a pale or muted blue' is directly signalled by combining 'powder' (suggesting something fine, light, or powdered) with 'blue', so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a delicate/light shade of blue. This is a regular adjectival compound describing a color and follows common cross-linguistic patterns, making it readily comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Powder blue as an adjective may come from the same idea of a soft, dusty powder with a light blue color used by tailors and laundries long ago. So the phrase now describes something that is 'a soft, pale blue'.