Word.ws English Dictionary

blue balls

blue balls noun: a cramp-like ache in the testicles and prostate region caused by prolonged sexual arousal; testicles experiencing such an ache.

Noun

blue balls pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only, slang) A cramp-like ache in the testicles and prostate region caused by prolonged sexual arousal; testicles experiencing such an ache.
  2. (figuratively, plural, plural-only, slang) Unfulfilled sexual desire.
  3. (US, dated, plural, plural-only, slang) Buboes (in a person of any sex) caused by a sexually transmitted infection; the infection that causes them.
    • [...] away the flesh and cause ulcers and buboes (blue balls).1920, V.D. pamphlet, page 33
    • It invades lymphatics, is carried to the inguinal lymph nodes, where multiple abscesses, buboes, or "blue balls" appear. A brawny edema of the labia, with deeply penetrating destructive ulcers may occur in the late stages.1960, Laman Alexander Gray, A Text Book of Gynecology, page 47

Origin of blue balls

US English, 1910s, blue + balls (“testicles”).

Words formed from blue balls

Questions about blue balls

What does blue balls mean?
Blue balls means a cramp-like ache in the testicles and prostate region caused by prolonged sexual arousal; testicles experiencing such an ache.
What part of speech is blue balls?
Blue balls is a noun.

Words near blue balls in the dictionary

  1. blue badges
  2. blue bag
  3. blue bags
  4. blue baller
  5. blue ballers
  6. blue balls
  7. Blue Banana
  8. Blue Bay
  9. blue bean
  10. blue beans
  11. blue beat

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: blue balls (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-blue balls.ogg.

Cite this entry: “blue balls.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/blue_balls. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.