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• black tie
  black tie

  noun

  a black bow tie, worn with a dinner jacket.
• black-tie
  black-tie

  adjective

  requiring that guests wear semiformal attire, especially that men wear black bow ties with tuxedos or dinner jackets.

black tie

¹ American  

noun

black ties plural

1. a black bow tie, worn with a dinner jacket.

2. semiformal evening wear for men (distinguished from white tie).

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black-tie ² American  

[blak-tahy] / ˈblækˈtaɪ /

adjective

1. 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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black tie British  

noun

1. a black bow tie worn with a dinner jacket

2. (modifier) denoting an occasion when a dinner jacket should be worn

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• black ties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of black tie¹

First recorded in 1855–60

Origin of black-tie²

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

black tie black-tie

One thousand attendees in black tie are expected.

From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026

Holland wore black trousers, a black jacket, a red dress shirt and black tie while Zendaya donned a strapless black gown with a fringed skirt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

Hundreds of guests in black tie in the ballroom took cover under tables and later made their way into the hotel lobby and then outdoors as the event was postponed.

From Barron's ● Apr. 26, 2026

On New Year’s Eve, during my family’s stay, the hotel was teeming with visitors in black tie.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

I turned to the group behind us, which had grown to include a uniformed Secret Service officer in a white shirt and a black tie.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Guests at the black-tie White House Correspondents' Dinner scrambled to hide under tables.

From Barron's ● Apr. 26, 2026

At the briefing, Trump expressed dismay at the violent outburst at the Washington Hilton, where the black-tie event has been held for more than 50 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026

Still wearing his black-tie outfit and flanked by Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth, Trump told reporters that the attempt only strengthened his resolve to finish the White House outbuilding.

From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026

He made a brief appearance at a black-tie event for Place of Hope, a South Florida youth and family charity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026

And, of course, when the occasion arose to write out a menu for a black-tie dinner party in Odessa, he would know exactly what to do.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Related Words

• tux
• tuxedo