out of the blue

Noun CEFR C2

aʊt ɒv ðə bluː

Definitions

Unexpectedly; without warning or preparation.

Equivalents

Españolcomo caído de las nubes de la nada de repentede sopetón

Françaiscomme un cheveu sur la soupe comme un chien dans un jeu de quilles de nulle part

Deutsch(wie) aus blauem Himmel (wie) aus heiterem Himmel aus dem Blauen herausaus dem Nichts aus heiterem Himmel einfach so

21 more languages

العربيةعَلَى حِينِ غِرَّةٍ عَلَى حِينِ غَفْلَةٍ فجأة

Bosanskikao grom iz vedra neba као гром из ведра неба

Češtinazčistajasna

Danskud af det blå

Suomiyllättäen

Hrvatskikao grom iz vedra neba као гром из ведра неба

Magyarhirtelen váratlanul

Íslenskaeins og skrattinn úr sauðaleggnum eins og þruma úr heiðríkju eins og þruma úr heiðskíru lofti

Italianocome un fulmine a ciel sereno dal nulla di punto in biancoinaspettatamente

日本語出し抜け寝耳に水藪から棒藪から棒に青天の霹靂

한국어갑자기 난데없이

Latinainexspectate

Nederlandsuit het niets zomaar

Polskijak grom z jasnego nieba ni stąd, ni zowąd ni z gruszki, ni z pietruszkini z tego, ni z owego zamanąwszy

Portuguêsà toa da cartola do nada

Românădin senin

Русскийкак гром среди ясного неба как снег на голову

Српскиkao grom iz vedra neba као гром из ведра неба

Türkçedurup dururken

Українськаяк грім серед ясного неба

Tiếng Việtđang không tự dưng

Examples

“After I hadn’t heard from her in six months, she called me out of the blue to meet ⟳ for lunch.”

“I really can't understand ⟳ how something like ⟳ this could simply pop up out of the blue.”

“I deckhanded on a fish ⟳ boat for four years and knew no fisherman likes to be called out of the blue and have ⟳ his numbers demanded!”

“Just as it appeared Arsenal had taken the sting ⟳ out of the tie, Johnson produced a moment of outrageous quality, thundering a bullet of a left foot shot out of the blue and into the top left-hand corner of Wojciech Szczesny's net with the Pole grasping at thin air.”

CEFR level

C2

Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.

See all C2 English words →

See also

out of the box out of the chute out of the common out of the corner of one's eye out of the frying pan, into the fire out of the gate

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