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

Yet for all the unease over AI coming for white-collar jobs in software and beyond, investors may in some cases reward companies for newfound efficiencies ushered in by the technology.

From MarketWatch

It was the doomsday scenario many white-collar workers had feared: an S&P 500 company cutting nearly half of its staff.

From The Wall Street Journal

On Monday, Citrini Research put out a blog post laying out a hypothetical, cataclysmic near-future in which AI eliminates white-collar jobs, upending companies and entire industries.

From MarketWatch

The report envisioned an economy in 2028 where AI is successful enough to cause widespread white-collar job destruction, without new industries emerging to absorb displaced workers.

From MarketWatch

Artificial intelligence will apparently render much of white-collar work obsolete, leading to mass layoffs, falling spending, widespread defaults, a stock crash, a mortgage crisis, and plunging house values.

From Barron's

Related Words

• clerical
• salaried