bluestocking
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.59 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A member of the English parliament of 1653, more commonly called the Barebones Parliament.
Example Sentences
- "Many of her ladyship’s letters were the most whimsical rhodomontades that ever blue-stocking penned."
- "But Isabel was no blue-stocking; she was full of vivacity and life, and her conversation was sprightly and agreeable, even when turning upon those serious subjects."
- "And let none cast in my teeth[…]the remark of Hippolytus in Euripides: “I detest a bluestocking. May there never be a woman in my house who knows more than is fitting for a woman to know.”"
- "He knows what is what, and he says that it is a remarkable book. But you think that it^([sic]) is a bluestocking. Not at all."
- "“Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it’s very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better.[…]”"
- "Bragg was a Massachusetts-born bluestocking, a New Woman of the Progressive Era who changed not only the cultural face of Charleston but also the nation's approach to museum education."
Etymology
From the 17th century. Originally in reference to blue stockings worn by men as opposed to more expensive white stockings. First associated with the Barebones Parliament in the 17th century, then with a series of literary salons which admitted female intellectuals in the 18th century; in particular the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society led by Elizabeth Montagu on the Parisian model. The term was not originally derogatory. However, none of the ladies wore blue stockings. The first recorded use of the term is in reference to Benjamin Stillingfleet. He was not rich enough to have the proper formal dress, which included black silk stockings and so he attended in everyday blue worsted stockings.