Meanings
plural blue screens of death
- informalcomputingAn error screen displayed by some operating systems, especially Microsoft Windows, after encountering an unrecoverable error which causes the system to shut down.
The only remaining problem is--NT still locks up the machine at exactly the same point. The only difference is that I don't get the blue screen of death--NT just freezes.
1993 October 10, tay...@saturn.brooks.af.mil, “NT Patch--doesn't fix Services for Macintosh”, in comp.os.ms-windows.nt.setup (Usenet)1 more example
A Blue Screen of Death is like an encrypted message from your computer telling you there's a problem. We're going to help you make sense of the gobbledygook so you can fix whatever's ailing your PC!
2007, Paul Lilly, “BSOD Crash Course”, in Maximum PC, page 40Synonyms: blue screen, BSOD, stop error
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn error screen displayed by some operating systems, especially Microsoft Windows, after encountering an unrecoverable error which causes the system to shut down.
Origin
First use appears c. 1993 with the release of Windows NT 3.1. See cite below.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic شَاشَة الْمَوْت الزَّرْقَاء
- شَاشَة الْمَوْت الزَّرْقَاء (šāšat al-mawt az-zarqāʔ)screen indicating a system error
Bulgarian син екра́н на смъртта́
- син екра́н на смъртта́ (sin ekrán na smărttá)screen indicating a system error
Catalan pantalla blava de la mort
- pantalla blava de la mortscreen indicating a system error
Chinese Cantonese 藍mon /蓝mon
- 藍mon /蓝mon (laam⁴ mon¹)screen indicating a system error
Chinese Mandarin 藍屏死機 /蓝屏死机, 藍色當機畫面 /蓝色当机画面
- 藍屏死機 /蓝屏死机 (lánpíng sǐjī)screen indicating a system error
- 藍色當機畫面 /蓝色当机画面 (lánsè dāngjī huàmiàn)screen indicating a system error
- 藍屏 /蓝屏 (lánpíng)screen indicating a system error
Czech modrá obrazovka smrti
- modrá obrazovka smrtiscreen indicating a system error
Danish blå skærm, blå skærm af død
- blå skærmscreen indicating a system error
- blå skærm af dødscreen indicating a system error
Dutch blauw scherm des doods
- blauw scherm des doodsscreen indicating a system error
Estonian sinine surmaekraan
- sinine surmaekraanscreen indicating a system error
Finnish sininen kuolemanruutu
- sininen kuolemanruutuscreen indicating a system error
French écran bleu de la mort
- écran bleu de la mortscreen indicating a system error
German Bluescreen, Blauschirm
- Bluescreenscreen indicating a system error
- Blauschirmscreen indicating a system error
Greek μπλε οθόνη του θανάτου
- μπλε οθόνη του θανάτου (ble othóni tou thanátou)screen indicating a system error
Hebrew המוות הכחול
- המוות הכחולscreen indicating a system error
Hungarian kék halál
- kék halálscreen indicating a system error
Indonesian Layar Biru Kematian
- Layar Biru Kematianscreen indicating a system error
Italian schermo blu della morte
- schermo blu della mortescreen indicating a system error
Japanese 死の青スクリーン, ブルースクリーン
- 死の青スクリーン (shi no ao sukurīn)screen indicating a system error
- ブルースクリーン (burū sukurīn)screen indicating a system error
- 青画面 (aogamen)screen indicating a system error
- 青窓 (aomado)screen indicating a system error
Korean 죽음의 파란 화면, 블루스크린
- 죽음의 파란 화면 (jugeum-ui paran hwamyeon)screen indicating a system error
- 블루스크린 (beulluseukeurin)screen indicating a system error
Malay skrin biru mati
- skrin biru matiscreen indicating a system error
Norwegian Bokmål blåskjerm
- blåskjermscreen indicating a system error
Polish niebieski ekran śmierci
- niebieski ekran śmierciscreen indicating a system error
Portuguese tela azul da morte, ecrã azul da morte
- tela azul da mortescreen indicating a system error
- ecrã azul da mortescreen indicating a system error
Romanian ecranul albastru al morții
- ecranul albastru al morțiiscreen indicating a system error
Russian си́ний экра́н сме́рти, голубо́й экра́н сме́рти
- си́ний экра́н сме́рти (sínij ekrán smérti)screen indicating a system error
- голубо́й экра́н сме́рти (golubój ekrán smérti)screen indicating a system error
Slovak modrá obrazovka smrti
- modrá obrazovka smrtiscreen indicating a system error
Spanish pantalla azul de la muerte
- pantalla azul de la muertescreen indicating a system error
Swedish blåskärm, blå skärm av döden
- blåskärmscreen indicating a system error
- blå skärm av dödenscreen indicating a system error
Tagalog Bughaw na Tabing ng Kamatayan
- Bughaw na Tabing ng Kamatayanscreen indicating a system error
Thai จอฟ้ามรณะ
- จอฟ้ามรณะscreen indicating a system error
Turkish mavi ekran
- mavi ekranscreen indicating a system error
Ukrainian си́ній екра́н сме́рті
- си́ній екра́н сме́рті (sýnij ekrán smérti)screen indicating a system error
Vietnamese màn hình xanh chết chóc
- màn hình xanh chết chócscreen indicating a system error
Cite this entry
blue screen of death. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blue%20screen%20of%20death
“blue screen of death.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blue%20screen%20of%20death. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blue screen of death,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blue%20screen%20of%20death.
Source: blue screen of death on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.