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  1. If something happens out of the blue, it is completely unexpected: One day, out of the blue, she announced that she was leaving. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Not expected or planned. abrupt end. abrupt halt. abruptly. abruptness. ad hoc.

  2. If something happens out of the blue, it is completely unexpected: One day, out of the blue, she announced that she was leaving. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Not expected or planned. abrupt end. abrupt halt. abruptly. abruptness. ad hoc.

  3. Definition of 'out of the blue' out of the blue. phrase. If something happens out of the blue, it happens unexpectedly. One of them wrote to us out of the blue several years later. See full dictionary entry for blue. Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. out of the blue in British English.

    • What Does "Out of the Blue" Mean? When we say something comes "out of the blue," we mean it happens totally unexpectedly. It's like a bird suddenly swooping down while you're enjoying a peaceful walk in the park.
    • Where Does "Out of the Blue" Come From? The idiom likely derives from the longer phrase "a bolt out of the blue," which refers to a sudden and unexpected event.
    • 10 Examples of "Out of the Blue" in Sentences. To help you understand how and when to use this idiom, here are some examples from various contexts: While I was surfing the net, an out-of-the-blue message from an old friend popped up on my screen.
    • Examples of "Out of the Blue" in Pop Culture. The phrase "out of the blue" is also widely used in pop culture, often in scenarios depicting unexpected events or surprises.
  4. Unexpectedly, suddenly. The image of something dropping from the sky was transferred to sudden or surprising events in the late nineteenth century. “He dropped upon me suddenly out of a clear sky,” wrote W. E. Norris ( Marietta’s Marriage, 1897).

  5. Use the phrase out of the blue when you need a casual way to describe something that surprises you and possibly seems to come from nowhere. Your parents might announce, out of the blue, that they're moving to Mexico, for example. Another way to say out of the blue is from the clear blue sky.

  6. Jun 17, 2024 · The idiom “out of the blue” means that something happens when you are not expecting it to or something happens suddenly. Origin of this idiomatic phrase. The idiom “out of the blue” evolved from an older idiom. The older idiom used was “a bolt from the blue” or “a bolt out of the blue.”

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