Standard Lemma guide

bluestem

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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/ˈbluːstɛm/
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noun

Meaning 1

Any of various grasses having bluish stems, including little bluestem and big bluestem, principally in tribe Andropogoneae.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

noun

Meaning 2

tall grass with smooth bluish leaf sheaths grown for hay in the United States

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: blue stem, Andropogon furcatus, Andropogon gerardii

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: grass

History

Etymology

From blue + stem.

Word forms

Inflections and variants

bluestems — plural

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: Australian bluestem, big bluestem, bluestem grass, broomsedge bluestem, bushy bluestem, cane bluestem, Caucasian bluestem, chalky bluestem, Colombian bluestem, Florida little bluestem, gulf bluestem, Hall's bluestem, honey bluestem) (Schizachyrium scoparium, syn. Schizachyrium spadiceum), little bluestem, paintbrush bluestem, pinescrub bluestem, plains bluestem, prairie bluestem, sand bluestem, sand hill bluestem, shore little bluestem, silver bluestem, slender little bluestem, split bluestem, splitbeard bluestem, Springfield bluestem, tall bluestem, yellow bluestem, yellowsedge bluestem

Related: none provided

Semantic map

Other relationships

Hypernyms: grass

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Real reading context

Meaning relationships

Meaning relationships

bluestem in complete knowledge articles