black-tie
[blak-tahy]
- requiring that guests wear semiformal attire, especially that men wear black bow ties with tuxedos or dinner jackets: a black-tie dance.
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Compare white-tie.
Origin of black-tie
First recorded in 1930–35
black tie
- a black bow tie, worn with a dinner jacket.
- semiformal evening wear for men (distinguished from white tie).
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Origin of black tie
First recorded in 1855–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for black-tie
Contemporary Examples
As Margaret Lyons writes, “This wasn't an awards ceremony so much as a black-tie celebration of the straight white male gaze.”
People are constantly shown wearing white tie to black-tie occasions and vice versa.
Indeed, the social season in Palm Beach is a busy one, with a black-tie gala every night through spring.
Movie stars and producers turned out in force for the black-tie affair.
The black-tie crowd at the New York Hilton roared with delight.
black tie
- a black bow tie worn with a dinner jacket
- (modifier) denoting an occasion when a dinner jacket should be worn
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Compare white tie
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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