white-collar

adjective

white-col·​lar ˈ(h)wīt-ˈkä-lər 

: of, relating to, or constituting the class of salaried employees whose duties do not call for the wearing of work clothes or protective clothing compare blue-collar

Examples of white-collar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This competitive edge—including its blue and white-collar contributions—is also only possible because of the complete ecosystem that Geneva offers for this industry. —Peter Vanham, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025

This explains, in part, why tests aiming to measure the real-world utility of AI models have existed for software engineering since at least 2023, but have lagged in other white-collar domains. —Nikita Ostrovsky, Time, 1 Oct. 2025

Hiring was listless across most sectors, especially white-collar industries where activity was flat in August, according to Tuesday’s report. —Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 30 Sep. 2025

These investors experienced young adulthood during the inflation spike that accompanied the pandemic and now face a white-collar job market slowdown. —Alex Harring, CNBC, 23 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for white-collar

• eurodollar
• caller
• collar
• crawler
• dollar
• faller
• haller
• hauler
• holler
• scholar
• smaller
• squalor

Kids Definition

white-collar

adjective

ˈhwīt-ˈkäl-ər,

ˈwīt-

: of, relating to, or being a member of the class of workers (as clerks and salespersons) whose duties do not require the wearing of work clothes