formal evening dress for men (distinguished from black tie).
a white bow tie for men, worn with formal evening dress.
a white bow tie worn as part of a man's formal evening dress
formal evening dress for men
( as modifier )
a white-tie occasion
First recorded in 1950–55
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Trump loves to dress up in white tie and tails to hob-nob with the royals.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
Guests, which also included Republican lawmakers and several Fox personalities, wore white tie and enjoyed a three-course meal that included ravioli with herbs from the White House garden and Dover sole.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
It was taken ahead of the annual "white tie and tiaras" reception for diplomats held at the palace.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2023
While earlier music directors at the Met, all men, favored white tie and tails, Nézet-Séguin, who has held the post since 2018, has long had a more eclectic style, both in his clothes and appearance.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2023
He had put on a white shirt with a white tie and white flannel trousers, and a pair of bright tan, oxblood shoes.
From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater
“His reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day,” Pence said during a speech at the white-tie Gridiron dinner in Washington.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 13, 2023
"President Trump was wrong," Pence told assembled journalists and their guests at the Gridiron dinner, an annual white-tie event in Washington, D.C.
From Reuters ● Mar. 12, 2023
Later, the King will host a glittering white-tie banquet at Buckingham Palace for President Ramaphosa where both men will give speeches.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2022
The Met’s opening night is a marker of the start of New York’s social season, a series of white-tie and black-tie gatherings that was largely skipped in 2020-21.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 12, 2021
For Britain, of course, that would be Queen Elizabeth II, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, who welcomed him to Buckingham Palace last year with an 82-gun salute and a lavish white-tie state banquet.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2020
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.
