It came like a bolt from the blue

What's the meaning of the phrase 'It came like a bolt from the blue'?

A complete and sudden surprise.

What's the origin of the phrase 'It came like a bolt from the blue'?

The allusion here is to the surprise like a lightening bolt from a clear sky. Thomas Carlyle was the first author known to have used the term in print, in his The French Revolution, 1837:

“Arrestment, sudden really as a bolt out of the Blue, has hit strange victims.”

The word blue (or blew) had been used before that to mean the sky. Henry More records that in his A Platonicall Song of the Soul, 1642:

“Ne any footsteps in the empty Blew.”

Related phrases and meanings

Browse more Phrases

About the Author

Gary Martin

Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

Phrases & Meanings

A-Z

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T UV W XYZ