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
Speaking about the ball in 2001, Sir Elton said: "Yes, he came in white tie, and he came straight from a private jet. Yes, I don't think he'd wear white tie otherwise."
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2023
Presiding over the courtroom in the traditional black robe and white tie, he immediately threw out the case, citing a youth court statute that encourages rehabilitation rather than punishment.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2023
August comes out from behind the green curtain, wearing white tie.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Saturday evening, more than 600 Washington VIPs, including administration officials, lawmakers, reporters and editors gather for the annual white-tie Gridiron Dinner.
From Reuters ● Mar. 15, 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
Said world’s richest man, Elon Musk, was actually there, in a white-tie tux “like I’m from ‘Downton Abbey’ or something,” and joking about using the night to find investors.
From Washington Post ● May 2, 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.
