white-collar crime
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of white-collar crime
First recorded in 1945–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We’ve kind of gotten used to white-collar crime being completely normalized, so any prosecution for violation of securities law feels like selective enforcement,” said Brown.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
The prison term was slightly shorter than the 21-year prison sentence sought by prosecutors, but is still unusually long for a white-collar crime.
From BBC • Nov. 20, 2024
And while most experts think a prison sentence is unlikely, the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, has made it known that he takes white-collar crime seriously.
From New York Times • May 30, 2024
It is the kind of white-collar crime that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office has sent many businesspeople to jail for.
From Salon • Apr. 22, 2024
It might seem ludicrous to address as large and intractable a problem as white-collar crime through the life of a bagel man.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
