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• 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.

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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

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tea party ² British  

noun

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

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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

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

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026

Later that evening, Charles was mobbed by hundreds of well-wishers at a tea party held at the British Embassy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

With so many stations closed or short on gas, it felt like the Mad Hatter’s tea party paradox: “Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow, but never jam today.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

He imagined the color and chaos of a tea party in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

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

After the Boston Tea Party, in 1773, when the anger of the American colonists against their British rulers began to spill over, dozens of committees and congresses of angry colonists sprang up around New England.

From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell