bluestocking (plural bluestockings)

1. (pejorative) A scholarly, literary, or cultured woman.
   • 1846, Reynolds, George W.M., The Mysteries of London volume 1, London: George Vickers, page 109:

     But Isabel was no blue-stocking; she was full of vivacity and life, and her conversation was sprightly and agreeable, even when turning upon those serious subjects.

   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326 ↗:

     “Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better. […]”

     "But the cultural conflict between these two post-revolutionary styles — between frat guys and feminist bluestockings, Gamergaters ↗ and the diversity police, alt-right provocateurs ↗ and 'woke' dudebros, the mouthbreathers who poured hate on the all-female 'Ghostbusters' and the tastemakers who pretended it was good — is likely here to stay."

2. A member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society

• French: bas-bleu
• Italian: bas-bleu

• German: Blaustrumpf