Blue vs. Indecent — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on December 30, 2023
"Blue" primarily refers to a color, but can also colloquially mean sad or risqué in humor. "Indecent" describes something offensive, improper, or unseemly, often related to behavior or language.
Difference Between Blue and Indecent
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Blue is commonly known as a primary color, but figuratively, it can describe a mood of sadness or a type of humor that is risqué. Indecent lacks a literal, physical form, and is used to describe behavior, language, or images that are offensive or inappropriate.
When blue is used figuratively to mean sad, it refers to an emotional state, while blue humor refers to adult or risqué content. Indecent carries ethical or moral connotations, suggesting a breach of social norms or decency.
Blue is a color widely used in art and design, carrying various symbolic meanings. Indecent is a term used in social and legal contexts, often subject to cultural and legal interpretation.
Blue has a broader range of meanings, from the literal color to various metaphorical uses. Indecent has a more specific usage, typically related to moral or societal standards of propriety.
The use of blue to mean sad or risqué can vary in different cultures, while its definition as a color is universal. The definition of what is considered indecent can greatly vary between different cultures and legal systems.
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Comparison Chart
Primary Meaning
A color; can also mean sad or risqué
Offensive or inappropriate behavior or content
Contexts
Color, emotions, humor
Behavior, language, social norms
Connotations
Colorful, moody, humorous
Improper, offensive, unseemly
Cultural Interpretation
Universal as a color; varied in metaphorical use
Highly variable based on cultural and legal standards
Use in Language
Descriptive, symbolic
Judgmental, normative
Compare with Definitions
Blue
A primary color between green and violet in the spectrum.
The sky was a clear shade of blue.
Indecent
Offensive or shocking in language or behavior.
He was reprimanded for making an indecent gesture.
Blue
Feeling or expressing melancholy or sadness.
He felt blue after hearing the sad news.
Indecent
Suggestive of or bordering on impropriety or obscenity.
The novel contained indecent descriptions.
Blue
Cold or uninviting in appearance.
The room's blue walls gave it a chilly feeling.
Indecent
Not decent or respectful in a particular context.
His indecent remarks were met with disapproval.
Blue
Risqué or slightly indecent, especially in humor.
The comedian is known for his blue jokes.
Indecent
Not conforming to accepted standards of morality or propriety.
The film was criticized for its indecent content.
Blue
Symbolic of loyalty or fidelity.
The blue banner represented their steadfastness.
Indecent
Lacking modesty or decency, especially in dress.
The costume was considered indecent by the conservative audience.
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours of pigments in painting and traditional colour theory, as well as in the RGB colour model. It lies between violet and green on the spectrum of visible light.
Indecent
Offensive to accepted standards of decency or modesty; lewd or vulgar
Found the movie to be indecent.
Blue
The hue of that portion of the visible spectrum lying between green and indigo, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 420 to 490 nanometers; any of a group of colors that may vary in lightness and saturation, whose hue is that of a clear daytime sky; one of the additive or light primaries; one of the psychological primary hues.
Indecent
Not appropriate or becoming; unseemly
Bought up distressed properties with indecent enthusiasm.
Blue
A pigment or dye imparting this hue.
Indecent
To good taste.
Blue
Bluing.
Indecent
Not in keeping with conventional moral values; improper, immodest, or unseemly.
Blue
An object having this hue.
Indecent
(criminal law) Generally unacceptable for public broadcasting but not legally obscene.
Blue
Dress or clothing of this hue
The ushers wore blue.
Indecent
Not decent; unfit to be seen or heard; offensive to modesty and delicacy; as, indecent language.
Blue
A person who wears a blue uniform.
Indecent
Not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society;
Was buried with indecent haste
Indecorous behavior
Language unbecoming to a lady
Unseemly to use profanity
Moved to curb their untoward ribaldry
Blue
Blues A dress blue uniform, especially that of the US Army.
Blue
A member of the Union Army in the Civil War.
Blue
The Union Army.
Blue
A bluefish.
Blue
Any of various small blue butterflies of the subfamily Polyommatinae.
Blue
The sky.
Blue
The sea.
Blue
Of the color blue.
Blue
Bluish or having parts that are blue or bluish, as the blue spruce and the blue whale.
Blue
Having a gray or purplish color, as from cold or contusion.
Blue
Wearing blue.
Blue
Being a trail, as for skiing, marked with a sign having a blue square, indicating an intermediate level of difficulty.
Blue
Relating to or being a blue state.
Blue
Gloomy; depressed.
Blue
Dismal; dreary
A blue day.
Blue
Puritanical; strict.
Blue
Aristocratic; patrician.
Blue
Indecent; risqué
A blue joke.
A blue movie.
Blue
To make or become blue.
Blue
Having blue as its color.
The deep blue sea
Blue
(informal) Depressed, melancholic, sad.
Blue
(health care) Having a bluish or purplish shade of the skin due to a lack of oxygen to the normally deep red blood cells.
The divers got them out of the car just in time – they were starting to turn blue.
Blue
Pale, without redness or glare; said of a flame.
The candle burns blue.
Blue
(politics) Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue.
Blue
Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by the Democratic Party.
I live in a blue constituency.
Congress turned blue in the mid-term elections.
Blue
Supportive of or related to the Liberal Party.
Illawarra turns blue in Liberal washout
Blue
(UK politics) Supportive of or related to the Conservative Party.
Blue
(astronomy) Of the higher-frequency region of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum which is relevant in the specific observation.
Blue
(of steak) Extra rare; left very raw and cold.
Blue
(of a dog or cat) Having a coat of fur of a slaty gray shade.
Blue
(archaic) Severe or overly strict in morals; gloomy.
Blue and sour religionists;
Blue laws
Blue
Literary; bluestockinged.
Blue
(particle physics) Having a color charge of blue.
Blue
(informal) Risqué; obscene; profane; pornographic.
His material is too blue for prime-time
The air was blue with oaths.
A blue movie
Blue
The colour of the clear sky or the deep sea, between green and purple in the visible spectrum, and one of the primary additive colours for transmitted light; the colour obtained by subtracting red and green from white light using magenta and cyan filters; or any colour resembling this.
Blue
Anything coloured blue, especially to distinguish it from similar objects differing only in color.
I don't like red Smarties. Have you got a blue?
Blue
A blue dye or pigment.
Blue
Blue clothing.
The boys in blue marched to the pipers.
Blue
(in the plural) A blue uniform. See blues.
Blue
A member of a sports team that wears blue colours; (in the plural) a nickname for the team as a whole. See also blues.
Come on you blues!
Blue
An umpire, in reference to the typical dark blue color of the umpire's uniform. Sometimes perceived by umpires as derogatory when used by players or coaches while disputing a call.
He was safe! Terrible call, blue!
Blue
Sporting colours awarded by a university or other institution for sporting achievement, such as representing one's university, especially and originally at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. See also full blue, half blue.
He excelled at rowing and received a blue in the sport at Oxford.
Blue
A person who has received such sporting colours.
He was a blue in rugby at Cambridge.
Blue
(slang) A member of law enforcement.
Blue
A bluestocking.
Blue
The sky, literally or figuratively.
The balloon floated up into the blue.
His request for leave came out of the blue.
Blue
The ocean; deep waters.
Blue
The far distance; a remote or distant place.
Blue
A dog or cat with a slaty gray coat.
Blue
(snooker) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of five points.
Blue
(entomology) Any of the butterflies of the subfamily Polyommatinae in the family Lycaenidae, most of which have blue on their wings.
Blue
A bluefish.
Blue
An argument.
Blue
A liquid with an intense blue colour, added to a laundry wash to prevent yellowing of white clothes.
Blue
Any of several processes to protect metal against rust.
Blue
(British) A type of firecracker.
Blue
(particle physics) One of the three color charges for quarks.
Blue
(UK) A member or supporter of the Conservative Party.
He is a true blue.
Blue
(ergative) To make or become blue; to turn blue.
Blue
To treat the surface of steel so that it is passivated chemically and becomes more resistant to rust.
Blue
To brighten by treating with blue (laundry aid).
Blue
To fight, brawl, or argue.
Blue
To spend (money) extravagantly; to blow.
Blue
Having the color of the clear sky, or a hue resembling it, whether lighter or darker; as, the deep, blue sea; as blue as a sapphire; blue violets.
Blue
Pale, without redness or glare, - said of a flame; hence, of the color of burning brimstone, betokening the presence of ghosts or devils; as, the candle burns blue; the air was blue with oaths.
Blue
Low in spirits; melancholy; as, to feel blue.
Blue
Suited to produce low spirits; gloomy in prospect; as, thongs looked blue.
Blue
Severe or over strict in morals; gloom; as, blue and sour religionists; suiting one who is over strict in morals; inculcating an impracticable, severe, or gloomy mortality; as, blue laws.
Blue
Literary; - applied to women; - an abbreviation of bluestocking.
The ladies were very blue and well informed.
For his religion . . . 'T was Presbyterian, true blue.
Blue
One of the seven colors into which the rays of light divide themselves, when refracted through a glass prism; the color of the clear sky, or a color resembling that, whether lighter or darker; a pigment having such color.
Blue
A pedantic woman; a bluestocking.
Blue
Low spirits; a fit of despondency; melancholy.
Blue
To make blue; to dye of a blue color; to make blue by heating, as metals, etc.
Blue
The color of the clear sky in the daytime;
He had eyes of bright blue
Blue
Blue clothing;
She was wearing blue
Blue
Any organization or party whose uniforms or badges are blue;
The Union army was a vast blue
Blue
The sky as viewed during daylight;
He shot an arrow into the blue
Blue
Used to whiten laundry or hair or give it a bluish tinge
Blue
The sodium salt of amobarbital that is used as a barbiturate; used as a sedative and a hypnotic
Blue
Any of numerous small chiefly blue butterflies of the family Lycaenidae
Blue
Turn blue
Blue
Having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky;
October's bright blue weather
A blue flame
Blue haze of tobacco smoke
Blue
Used to signify the Union forces in the Civil War (who wore blue uniforms);
A ragged blue line
Blue
Low in spirits;
Lonely and blue in a strange city
Depressed by the loss of his job
A dispirited and resigned expression on her face
Downcast after his defeat
Feeling discouraged and downhearted
Blue
Characterized by profanity or cursing;
Foul-mouthed and blasphemous
Blue language
Profane words
Blue
Belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy;
An aristocratic family
Aristocratic Bostonians
Aristocratic government
A blue family
Blue blood
The blue-blooded aristocracy
Of gentle blood
Patrician landholders of the American South
Aristocratic bearing
Aristocratic features
Patrician tastes
Blue
Morally rigorous and strict;
Blue laws
The puritan work ethic
Puritanic distaste for alcohol
She was anything but puritanical in her behavior
Blue
Causing dejection;
A blue day
The dark days of the war
A week of rainy depressing weather
A disconsolate winter landscape
The first dismal dispiriting days of November
A dark gloomy day
Grim rainy weather
Common Curiosities
Is feeling blue the same as depression?
Feeling blue is often temporary and less severe than clinical depression.
Can "blue" mean sad in all contexts?
Figuratively, yes, but context is important for interpretation.
Can "indecent" have legal implications?
Yes, in many jurisdictions, indecent acts can have legal consequences.
What determines if something is indecent?
Cultural norms, personal values, and legal standards play a role.
Is blue a common color in nature?
Yes, it's common in the sky and water.
Do artists use blue to convey specific emotions?
Yes, blue can be used to evoke calmness, sadness, or serenity.
Is indecency subjective?
Yes, what is considered indecent can vary greatly among individuals and cultures.
Can a book be banned for being indecent?
In some countries, books can be banned for indecent content.
Does indecent always mean illegal?
Not necessarily; something can be indecent without being illegal.
Are there different shades of blue?
Yes, there are many shades, from light sky blue to dark navy.
Can "blue" refer to music genres?
Yes, such as "blues" music, which often expresses melancholy themes.
Are there idioms that use "blue"?
Yes, like "out of the blue" (unexpectedly) and "blue-collar" (manual labor).
Can advertising be indecent?
Yes, if it violates norms of decency, especially in public contexts.
Does blue have different meanings in different cultures?
Yes, cultural interpretations of blue can vary.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
