dress shirt

American  

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.

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dress shirt British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of dress shirt

First recorded in 1890–95

Compare meaning

How does dress-shirt compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• sport shirt vs. dress shirt

Example Sentences

Texas Rep. Nate Schatzline’s energy was palpable as he gazed out from the video on the computer screen, grinning ear to ear, the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up.

From Salon • Nov. 11, 2025

Presiding over the festivities was Frank Seddio, the club’s 79-year-old chairman, who was wearing suspenders and a monogrammed dress shirt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025

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.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2025

One of the more vulnerable moments the film manages to capture comes when Federer wears the wrong dress shirt to a photo call.

From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2024

In the picture, he wears a gray dress shirt and jeans.

From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi