tuxedo
Americannoun
plural
tuxedos-
Also called dinner jacket. a man's jacket for semiformal evening dress, traditionally of black or dark-blue color and characteristically having satin or grosgrain facing on the lapels.
-
the complete semiformal outfit, including this jacket, dark trousers, often with silk stripes down the sides, a bow tie, and usually a cummerbund.
noun
Other Word Forms
- tuxedoed adjective
Etymology
Origin of tuxedo
1890–95, short for Tuxedo coat, after country club at Tuxedo Park, N.Y.
Explanation
Use the noun tuxedo to describe the dressy black suit that many men wear when they get married. It's not prom night without one of these formal jackets for men, which take their name from Tuxedo Park, New York, near New York City. The place name tuxedo, according to one line of etymological inquiry, is from an Algonquian word for "wolf," p'tuksit, while other scholars guess that it simply means "crooked river," p'tuck-sepo. Either way, a tuxedo today can also be called a dinner jacket or even the slangy "monkey suit," just for fun.
Vocabulary lists containing tuxedo
English Words Derived from Indigenous Languages of the Americas
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Aquatic, Waddle, and Plumage: Penguin Parlance
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Prom Time
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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.
The juxtaposition couldn’t be starker: videos showing protests in the streets versus a photo of a smiling Cook in a tuxedo with Brett Ratner, the director of a coming documentary about Melania Trump.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026
Afterwards Nawat appeared at a press conference wearing a tuxedo and openly weeping as he theatrically dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief, claiming he had been "betrayed".
From Barron's • Nov. 6, 2025
And as much hate as this show gets for the music choices, playing Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” as Joe ran out of his tuxedo fitting was pretty perfect.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025
The putrid chamber drama becomes a fantasia, befouled rags turn into tuxedo pants and it’s finally safe to belt how they feel.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025
The door to his bedroom opened and Albert appeared, wearing a faded black tuxedo and shiny black shoes.
From "The Marvels" by Brian Selznick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
