Blond or Blonde: Which Is Correct?

Imagine that you are walking down the street and you accidentally bump into someone coming from the other direction. That person continues walking. Moments later, you realize there is a fifty-dollar bill taped to your jacket. You turn around, but the person has already disappeared into a sea of others.

Shortly after, you text your friend to describe the rare event that’s taken place. The only details you can recall are that the person was a woman and that her hair was fair.

In writing about her hair, how do you spell it—blond or blonde? Is there even a difference?

We’ll settle that for you as well as explain why confusion can sometimes be attending this question.

Blond vs. Blonde: Understanding the Difference

As it turns out, both spellings of this word can be correct; however, they aren’t interchangeable. Neither is necessarily a misspelling, but you also can’t substitute one for the other in all contexts.

The difference between blond and blonde is subtle:

When referring to a male, a precise writer will use blond.

When describing a female, a careful writer will write blonde (with an “e”).

These types of distinction are not prevalent in American English, so let’s look further at how the blond vs. blonde issue came about and where it might be headed.

Why We Spell Blond and Blonde Differently

While gender rarely affects word spellings in English, it is more influential in other languages such as Spanish and French. In the case of blond and blonde, we have one of our occasional intersections with these other languages.

At a former time, the traditional English word for a person with light hair was “fair.” However, the French word blond also came into vogue centuries ago, particularly in America. That assimilation has remained, and for the precise writer, so has the word’s native spelling conventions, including adding an “-e” (blonde) when describing a female.

This principle may not last forever, though.

Why We Might Spell Blonde Another Way Later On

There are two reasons to think this particular point of grammar might evolve in the future. The first has to do with simplicity. Over time, language in the U.S. has steadily leaned toward homogeneity. In other words, people like to spell and say things the same way for clarity. Therefore, minor conventions such as differentiating blond from blonde can sometimes fall away as one spelling is preferred over the other.

In addition, society continues moving away from gender-specific spellings and terms. It would not surprise if editors of major style guides eventually begin choosing one spelling for all applications (likely blond) and maintain it.

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