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

"I thought there would have been more impact on entry-level white-collar jobs being eliminated by now than has actually happened," he told the conference on Tuesday, as reported by The Australian.

From Barron's • May 27, 2026

Wardley, whose rise from white-collar boxing to world champion remains one of the sport's most inspirational stories, suffered the first defeat of his professional career but enhanced his reputation in the process.

From BBC • May 24, 2026

Last year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei predicted External link that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level, white-collar jobs within five years.

From Barron's • May 21, 2026

For now, most AI agents are being deployed by white-collar workers to do things like write code, summarize emails, perform customer support and analyze data.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

Liberals and conservatives, traditionalists and reformers, white-collar officials and blue-collar miners, all remained loyal to him, not because they always agreed with him, but because the regent listened to and respected all different opinions.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• clerical
• salaried