business casual

Also of·fice cas·u·al

[biz-nis kazh-oo-uhl]

noun

1. a style of clothing for the office that is casual but neat and professional-looking.

business casual

noun

1. informal,  a style of casual clothing worn by businesspeople at work instead of more formal attire

Word History and Origins

Origin of business casual¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

The Venetian hotel—Palazzo Ducale on the outside, Divine Comedy on the inside—was overrun by thousands of white men in business casual now earning their living, one way or another, off subprime mortgages.

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Just about everyone else dressed business casual; the few guys who were actually important people wore three-thousand-dollar Italian suits.

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Still, James insisted that headquarters employees dress a cut above business casual, requiring jackets and slacks for men.

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“We’d literally scramble with a shower, put on our business casual with our dress shirts on, belt, tie, dress shoes,” Mendoza said.

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Clad in a neutral-toned pinstripe collared shirt, he, along with his four bandmates, could be young executives at a business casual lunch.

Read more on Los Angeles Times