Jump To:

• tea party
  tea party

  noun

  a social gathering, usually in the afternoon, at which tea and light refreshments are served.
• Tea Party
  Tea Party

  noun

  (in the US) a political movement, associated with the right wing of the Republican Party, favouring reduction in taxation and government spending

tea party

American  

noun

• tea parties
  plural

1. a social gathering, usually in the afternoon, at which tea and light refreshments are served.

2. (initial capital letters) a conservative political movement in the U.S. that opposes taxes and government spending: named in reference to the Boston Tea Party of 1773.

---

Tea Party ¹ British  

noun

1. (in the US) a political movement, associated with the right wing of the Republican Party, favouring reduction in taxation and government spending

---

tea party ² British  

noun

1. a social gathering in the afternoon at which tea is served

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tea parties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tea party

First recorded in 1770–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tea party Tea Party

Maybe you could call it a tea party wokeness, purged of pedants and scolds.

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau died after a Land Rover driven by Claire Freemantle crashed into an end-of-term tea party on the lawn of The Study Preparatory School in Wimbledon on 6 July 2023.

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026

Vibes: cursed tea party, haunted cottage, abandoned in a mansion.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026

A yellow and white dress, for instance, feels full of movement, fit equally for a tea party or a dance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025

Which one had been the one that had the tea party?

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

It’s the kind of fraught moment that reminds Brendan Steinhauser of his involvement in the creation of the Tea Party a generation ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

And around the corner, by the Fort Point Channel and near the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, sits rival Wellington.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

He caught the eye of Bill Montgomery, a retired businessman and Tea Party activist more than 50 years his senior, who took Kirk under his wing.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025

Earlier Wednesday, a number of Oscar precursor events, including the British Academy of Film and TV Arts Tea Party, the AFI Awards luncheon and the Critics Choice Awards, were postponed or canceled.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025

He had been in the crowd involved in the Boston Massacre and later took part in the Boston Tea Party.

From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen