Blond or Blonde | Difference & Example Sentences

Blond and blonde are two forms of the same word. They’re pronounced the same but can have slightly different meanings, depending on how they are used.

  • Blond is a noun traditionally used to refer to a man with golden or pale yellow hair. It can also be used as an adjective to describe something (typically a man’s hair) as ‘golden’ or ‘pale yellow’.
  • Blonde is a noun traditionally used to refer to a woman with golden or pale yellow hair. It can also be used as an adjective to describe something (typically a woman’s hair) as ‘golden’ or ‘pale yellow’.
Examples: Blond in a sentence Examples: Blonde in a sentence
Jake gets sunburned easily because he is a blond. My mother is a natural blonde, but she dyes her hair.
When Andreas was a child, he had blond hair. Christine wants to get blonde highlights.
Patrick has dark hair but blond eyebrows. The girl who called for you had blonde hair.
Note
This article describes the words as they are traditionally used, but different style guides offer contradictory advice on this issue. Some advise against the use of gendered language, while others retain the traditional spelling distinction. In popular usage, the words are often used interchangeably.

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Blond as a noun

Blond is traditionally used as a noun to refer to a boy or man with golden or pale yellow hair.

Examples: Blond in a sentence
The protagonist of the film is a tall blond.

Will is the only blond in his family.

Note
Some style guides advise against the use of blond as a noun, as it can be used to objectify or stereotype the person it refers to. However, blond is still widely used in everyday speech.

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Blond as an adjective

Blond can be used as an adjective to describe a boy or man’s hair as ‘golden’ or ‘pale yellow’. It’s also used to describe other things, such as beer, coffee, and wood. In most cases, it doesn’t matter if you use blond or blonde unless you’re referring to hair color.

Examples: Blond as an adjective
Jock doesn’t have blond hair; it’s actually gray.

Martha recently bought a beautiful blond wood table.

Blonde as a noun

Blonde is traditionally a noun used to refer to a girl or woman with golden or pale yellow hair.

Examples: Blonde as a noun
All my sisters are blondes, but apart from that they don’t look alike.

My wife’s hair is brown, but she wants to be a blonde.

Note
Some style guides caution against the use of blonde as a noun, as it can be used to objectify or stereotype the person it refers to. However, blonde is still widely used in everyday speech.

Blonde as an adjective

Blonde can be used as an adjective to describe a girl or woman’s hair as ‘golden’ or ‘pale yellow’. It’s also used to describe things such as beer and coffee. In most cases, blonde and blond are used interchangeably when not referring to hair color.

Examples: Blonde as an adjective
The sun dyed Carla’s hair slightly blonde.

Sasha doesn’t like dark roast coffee, but she does like blonde roast.

  1. Kevin always wanted to be a ______.
  2. Aaron had curly ______ hair when he was young.
  3. Eve is the only sister who isn’t a ______.
  4. The actress doesn’t actually have ______ hair; she wears a wig.
  5. My mother has ______ hair and my father has ______ hair.
  1. Kevin always wanted to be a blond.
    • ‘Blond’ is a noun traditionally used to refer to a man or boy with golden or pale yellow hair.
  1. Aaron had curly blond hair when he was young.
    • ‘Blond’ can be used as an adjective to describe a boy or man’s hair as ‘golden’ or ‘pale yellow’.
  1. Eve is the only sister who isn’t a blonde.
    • ‘Blonde’ is a noun traditionally used to refer to a woman or girl with golden or pale yellow hair.
  1. The actress doesn’t actually have blonde hair; she wears a wig.
    • ‘Blonde’ can be used as an adjective to describe a girl or woman’s hair as ‘golden’ or ‘pale yellow’.
  1. My mother has blonde hair and my father has blond hair.
    • In the first instance, the feminine ‘blonde’ is correct. In the second instance, the masculine ‘blond’ is correct.

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Other interesting language articles

If you want to know more about commonly confused words, definitions, and differences between US and UK spellings, make sure to check out some of our other language articles with explanations, examples, and quizzes.

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Ryan, E. (2022, October 29). Blond or Blonde | Difference & Example Sentences. Scribbr. Retrieved 3 December 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/frequently-confused-words/blond-or-blonde/

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Eoghan Ryan

Eoghan has a lot of experience with theses and dissertations at bachelor's, MA, and PhD level. He has taught university English courses, helping students to improve their research and writing.