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There comes a moment in every young crayon user’s life when they graduate from the 8-count (or 16-count, perhaps) box to the treasure trove of 64 glorious sticks of differently colored wax, when they discover that there isn’t just one brown or orange or blue, that when it comes to colors, the sky’s the limit! Such a moment is often the first encounter people have with the word cerulean, a word that slips sibilantly off the tongue like a balmy ocean breeze. Like azure, cerulean describes things whose blue color resembles that of a clear sky; it’s often used in literature (especially travel writing) to paint an enticing image of an even more enticing vista, as in “the cerulean waters of a tropical lagoon.” While azure is thought to hail from the Persian word lāzhuward, with the same meaning, cerulean comes from the Latin adjective caeruleus, meaning “dark blue.” That word most likely comes from caelum, meaning “sky.”
Examples of cerulean in a Sentence
Averi Baudler, People.com, 14 July 2025
Though ideas for a DWP sequel have been percolating for years, fans really began getting their hopes up when Anne Hathaway wore a cerulean blue dress to reunite with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt at the 2024 SAG Awards.
—Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 23 May 2025
On the right side wall, an image of twin rebar pillars jutting up toward a brilliant cerulean sky is interrupted by the trace of hardly discernible letters and numbers.
—Tara Anne Dalbow, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2025
Hermès Kelly bag in cerulean blue—the ultimate status bag that offered the perfect pop of color to her look.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for cerulean
Cite this Entry
“Cerulean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cerulean. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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cerulean
adjective
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