blush
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bluhshIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈblʌʃ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
“The girl blushed when a young man whistled as she walked by.”
intransitive
To become red or pink in the face (and sometimes experience an associated feeling of warmth), especially due to shyness, love, shame, excitement, or embarrassment.
transitive
To suffuse with a blush; to redden; to pinken; to make rosy.
transitive
To express or make known by blushing.
intransitivefiguratively
To be shy, ashamed, or embarrassed (to do something).
intransitive
To have a warm and delicate colour, like some roses and other flowers.
noun
An act of blushing; a pink or red glow on the face caused by embarrassment, shame, shyness, love, etc.
A glow; a flush of colour, especially pink or red.
uncountablecountable
A sort of makeup, frequently a powder, used to redden the cheeks.
A color between pink and cream.
chiefly us
A pale pink wine made by removing the dark grape skins at the required point during fermentation.
figuratively
A feeling or appearance of optimism.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
Used this way, blush is a common word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The girl blushed when a young man whistled as she walked by.”
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use blush
- “The girl blushed when a young man whistled as she walked by.”verb
- “Her cheeks blushed in the cold winter air.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Pinkish table wine from red grapes whose skins were removed after fermentation began.
Yellowish edible agaric that usually turns red when touched.
As a first impression.
At the first glimpse or impression.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- pinknoun
- cabernetnoun
- embarrassmentnoun
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.