Citations:dishwater blond

Noun: "a dark shade of blond, bordering on light brown"

 * 1986 — Daniel Woodrell, Under the Bright Lights, in The Bayou Trilogy, Mulholland Books (2011), ISBN 9780316190558, page 78:
 * "Blond, huh?" said one of the less grayed men. "Blond. My friend Terry is blond. Sort of dishwater blond. I like him, he likes me. But he lives in Memphis, you know. That's not here."
 * 1995 — Carolyn West, Fresh Kills, Berkley (1996), ISBN 9780425152768, page 63:
 * This one was dishwater blond, with a baby face. He wore his hair long, slicked straight back, but its baby-fine strands fell over his forehead.
 * 1998 — Anna J. Michener, Becoming Anna: The Autobiography of a Sixteen-Year-Old, University of Chicago Press (1998), ISBN 0226524019, page 96:
 * His hair was dishwater blond and cut close to his head so that his little ears stuck out.
 * 2006 — Christina Dodd, Trouble in High Heels, Signet (2006), ISBN 9781440657535, page 21:
 * "Dishwater blond is just as attractive as it sounds. Get highlights."
 * 2008 — Kelley Armstrong, Living with the Dead: Women of the Otherworld, Vintage Canada (2009), ISBN 9780307358042, page 157:
 * Robyn hated that term — dishwater blond. Even worse than dirty blond. She preferred dark blond. But for this girl, Robyn hated to admit, dishwater blond was most accurate.

Noun: "a person with dark blond hair"

 * 1980 — Gene DeWeese, Hour of the Cat, iUniverse (2002), ISBN 059522850X, page 12:
 * Where Martin was dark, angular, addicted to three-piece suits, and possessed of a temperament to match, Dan was a dishwater blond, wore ties only when he had to make a court appearance, and was dignified only as a last resort.
 * 1987 — Kenneth Lincoln & Al Logan Slagle, The Good Red Road: Passages into Native America, University of Nebraska Press (1997), ISBN 0803279744, page 60:
 * Kate was a dishwater blond with a snappy kind of plainness — her complexion was fair but weathered.
 * 2003 — David M. Pierce, Elf Child, The Hatworth Press (2003), ISBN 1560234288, page 1:
 * Russ tipped the magazine slightly to reduce the glare from the lamp. The dishwater blond in the picture smiled at him, Russ thought, in just the right way.
 * 2005 — Carla Thompson, Bearing Witness: Not So Crazy in Alabama, August Press (2005), ISBN 9780963572080, page 147:
 * Tammy was a dishwater blond, a color too fair for her complexion and clearly applied by untrained or poorly trained hands.
 * 2009 — John Sandford, Rough Country, G. P. Putnam's Sons (2009), ISBN 9781101140536, page 70:
 * Her husband came up behind her as she invited Virgil in: he was a dishwater blond, slender, althletic, and pretty, wearing a blue shirt that vibrated with his blue eyes, and khaki surfer shorts and sandals.

Adjective: "of a dark blond colour/color bordering on light brown"

 * 1993 — Don Dennis (with Shirley Stephens), Breaking Crime's Vicious Cycle, Broadman Press (1993), ISBN 0805451145, page 150:
 * A burly white dude, Sergeant Cross had straight, thick, dishwater blond hair and piercing blue eyes.
 * 1999 — D. W. St. John, Sisters of Glass, Poison Vine Books (1999), ISBN 0965840727, page 377:
 * A woman, little mousy thing with a pinched nose, clips pinning dishwater blond hair flat to either temple, looks at him, in a small voice says, "Yes?"
 * 2004 — Lori J. Glad, Sailing Home, Savage Press (2004), ISBN 9781886028678, page 90:
 * The man right behind Genie was tall, thin with closely cut dishwater blond hair.
 * 2006 — Pierce Scranton, Death on the Learning Curve, Elite Books (2006), ISBN 9781600700149, page 129:
 * She had a pert, dishwater blond hairdo, kind of like a Doris Day cut.
 * 2009 — Don Helin, Thy Kingdom Come, Medallion Press (2009), ISBN 9781933836973, page 170:
 * A slender young woman sporting a dishwater blond ponytail and a big smile met them at the door.