dress shirt

noun

1. a man's shirt worn for formal or semiformal evening dress, usually having French cuffs and a stiff or pleated front to be fastened with studs.

2. a man's shirt, buttoning down the front and typically having long sleeves with barrel or French cuffs, and a soft or starched collar, worn with a necktie.

dress shirt

noun

1. a man's shirt, usually white, worn as part of formal evening dress, usually having a stiffened or decorative front

Word History and Origins

Origin of dress shirt¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

“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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As a young lad growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Pittsburg, my school uniform consisted of corduroys the color of Ash Wednesday, a white dress shirt and a maroon V-neck sweater.

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A short time later, a man in a white dress shirt walked through the hole in the fence and toward a tent.

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Pascal’s Mr. Fantastic is so buttoned-down that he tucks his tie into his dress shirt.

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Jacket and tieless with his dress shirt’s sleeves rolled up lopsidedly, he hastily joked, “I’m nervous, but I hope you enjoy it — and if you don’t, tell us gently.”

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