Also:
out of a clear blue sky,
out of nowhere
Meaning of Idiom ‘Out of the Blue’
Out of the blue means without warning; completely unexpectedly; from an unknown or unforeseen source or for an unknown reason; at a completely unexpected time. 1,2,3,4
The variation ‘out of a clear blue sky’ is sometimes rendered without the ‘blue’ or without the ‘clear.’ 5
Sentence Examples
“I got a call today, out of the blue, from an old friend from high school. I’m surprised he even remembers me!”
“The divorce came out of the blue. He thought everything was fine with the marriage.”
“I don’t know what set him off. He attacked me out of the blue.”
“She’s been gone for years and nobody had heard from her. Then, yesterday, she knocked on the door, out of the blue.”
“He just came out of nowhere. I narrowly avoided hitting him with the car.”
“I can’t believe it. I just got a thousand-dollar check out of the clear blue sky.”
Origin
Used since the late 1800s, this idiom and its variations allude to something dropping out of nowhere or to a bolt of lightning striking from a calm and clear blue sky, when no storm is expected. They are similar to ‘a bolt from the blue.’
More Idioms Starting with O
More Blue Idioms
More Color Related Idioms
More Out Idioms
More Sky Idioms
More Clear Idioms
References- Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms]. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.
- Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.
- Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth M. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms. Ware: Wordsworth, 1995.
- Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
- Collins Cobuild. Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary. HarperCollins, 2012.