WHITE-COLLAR Definition & Meaning

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white-collar

[hwahyt-kol-er, wahyt-]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

belonging or pertaining to the ranks of office and professional workers whose jobs generally do not involve manual labor or the wearing of a uniform or work clothes.

noun

a white-collar worker.

white-collar

adjective

of, relating to, or designating nonmanual and usually salaried workers employed in professional and clerical occupations Compare blue-collar pink-collar
white-collar union

white-collar

A descriptive term for office workers, who use a minimum of physical exertion, as opposed to blue-collar laborers. Managerial, clerical, and sales jobs are common white-collar occupations.

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of white-collar¹

First recorded in 1920–25

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

One Axios headline, for example, warned of a “white-collar bloodbath” resulting from AI taking jobs from humans.

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It was not until he knocked out three of four opponents in the unlicensed white-collar boxing scene - where novices compete often for charity or personal challenge - that he decided to turn professional.

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McIver’s prosecution marks a rare occasion where a lawmaker faces charges for something other than a white-collar crime like fraud or bribery.

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In a court filing last month, the former sheriff disputed an assessment by a county-hired expert psychiatrist that described him as having “many attributes of a ‘white-collar psychopath.’

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Then came the pandemic, creating the highly unlikely conditions that allowed workplace researchers to examine the difference between white-collar workers in the office, and white-collar workers out of the office.

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Related 51�Թ�s

clerical��
salaried��

white cockatoo white-collar crime

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