Blond vs. Blonde

The modern English language employs many words that have origins in other languages. In some other languages, such as French or Spanish, adjectives are formed differently depending on whether or not you are referring to a male or a female. In English, we typically only have one form of an adjective, but when we borrow words from other languages, things can get confusing! Let's take a closer look at blond and blonde, which originated in the French language.

Blond and blonde are both adjectives that refer to someone with fair hair, or sometimes fair hair and a lighter complexion. Since this adjective originated in the French language, there are two forms of it. One of these forms, blond, was used to refer to a male who is fair. The other form, blonde, was used to refer to a female who is fair. Some people continue to use these two separate forms in their language today.

While some people continue to use the two forms, it is acceptable now, especially in the United States, to just use the masculine form of the word, blond:

It is important to remember that if you choose to just use one form of the word, you should use the masculine-blond. You would not want to refer to males as blonde.