white-collar

American  

[hwahyt-kol-er, wahyt-] / ˈʰwaɪtˈkɒl ər, ˈwaɪt- /

adjective

1. belonging or pertaining to the ranks of office and professional workers whose jobs generally do not involve manual labor or the wearing of a uniform or work clothes.

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noun

1. a white-collar worker.

white-collar British  

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designating nonmanual and usually salaried workers employed in professional and clerical occupations Compare blue-collar pink-collar

   white-collar union

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white-collar Cultural  

1. A descriptive term for office workers, who use a minimum of physical exertion, as opposed to blue-collar laborers. Managerial, clerical, and sales jobs are common white-collar occupations.

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Etymology

Origin of white-collar

First recorded in 1920–25

Compare meaning

How does white-collar compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• blue-collar vs. white-collar

Example Sentences

Layoffs and stagnant wages have a lot of white-collar workers feeling stuck.

From The Wall Street Journal

These white-collar contractors review and critique the output of the large language models that power chatbots and other AI tools.

From The Wall Street Journal

The route to upward mobility in the U.S. used to be to graduate from college, work a stable white-collar job and buy a home.

From The Wall Street Journal

The next wave of AI-driven transformation will reach far more diverse sectors, including white-collar fields, creative arts, frontline services and even specialized trades.

From MarketWatch

College students and their parents are trying to assess the future of entry-level work in a white-collar employment landscape marked by slow hiring, layoffs and AI displacement of knowledge workers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• clerical
• salaried