mess jacket

American

noun

a short, tailless jacket extending to just below the waist, used for semiformal military occasions and now especially as part of the uniform of waiters, bellhops, etc.

mess jacket British

noun

a waist-length jacket tapering to a point at the back, worn by officers in the mess for formal dinners

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of mess jacket

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

mess jacket

Soon they came back, Mr Osbourne and Mr Stevenson wearing the form of dress most usual in that hot climate a white mess jacket, and white trousers, but their feet were still bare.

From Robert Louis Stevenson: a record, an estimate, and a memorial by Alexander H. (Alexander Hay) Japp

If I hadn't gone to Cannes, I shouldn't have met the Bassett or bought that white mess jacket, and Angela wouldn't have met her shark, and Aunt Dahlia wouldn't have played baccarat.

From Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

Put on a mess jacket and that sort of thing—easy dress.

From Kipps The Story of a Simple Soul by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

"You're all wrong about that mess jacket, Jeeves."

From Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

One was a short, thick man in a gold-laced mess jacket, who fixed his eyes sternly on Flinders, and at once demanded his passport and commission.

From The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders by Ernest Scott

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023