HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
← Back to search

Meaning of cry the blues | Babel Free

Verb CEFR C1

Definitions

  1. To sing in the style of blues music.
  2. To complain, especially in order to obtain sympathy for one's own purportedly sad situation.

Examples

“"Young people have forgotten how to cry the blues," said Big Bill Broonzy as he lay dying in a dark room above the littered streets of Chicago's Negro South Side.”
“"The average citizen gets an extreme emotional delight in ‘crying the blues’ to anyone who might lend an attentive ear."”
“We have immense corporations that cry the blues all day long about how their pension costs are ruining them.”

CEFR level

C1
Advanced
This word is part of the CEFR C1 vocabulary — advanced level.
See all C1 English words →

See also

Learn this word in context

See cry the blues used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free