blue ribbon
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Perhaps a calque of Middle French cordon bleu (“blue ribbon”), worn by knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit, or after Blue Riband, a sailing award.
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]blue ribbon (plural blue ribbons)
- The highest honor or prize awarded in some competitions and contests.
- Mom's strawberry jam won the blue ribbon at the Holland County Fair three years running.
- 1859, Frederic William Farrar, Julian Home:
- These [scholarships] were the blue ribbon of the [college].
- 2022 September 2, Kevin Roose, “An A.I.-Generated Picture Won an Art Prize. Artists Aren’t Happy.”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
- Mr. Allen’s work, “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial,” took home the blue ribbon in the fair’s contest for emerging digital artists — making it one of the first A.I.-generated pieces to win such a prize, and setting off a fierce backlash from artists who accused him of, essentially, cheating.
- The emblem of the Order of the Garter.
- The badge adopted by a teetotal society.
- (Internet) A badge worn or displayed to advocate freedom from online censorship.
- The icon of the blue ribbon on her site should not be taken to mean she opposes parental filtration programs.
Adjective
[edit]blue ribbon (not comparable)
- Very superior in quality, style, substance, prestige, etc.
- The governor selected a cadre of blue ribbon social scientists to serve on her poverty task force.
- A blue ribbon jury of accomplished artists will choose the best three entries.
- (Australia, informal, politics) pertaining to the Liberal Party, its supporters and regions.
See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “blue ribbon”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- “blue ribbon”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
Categories:
- English terms calqued from Middle French
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English multiword terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Internet
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- Australian English
- English informal terms
- en:Politics