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

"They look like a couple of club fighters from a white-collar match in a local leisure centre. It was sad for me to watch."

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

Upper-income groups are swelling because wages have grown faster than prices over time, especially for white-collar workers with college educations, said Winship.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

Even amid cataclysmic energy shocks and relentless spates of white-collar layoffs, the American economic engine appears to be humming along smoothly.

From Slate • Apr. 3, 2026

The kind of job insecurity that once seemed the province of hourly, blue-collar jobs haunts white-collar professions these days.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

Despite all the attention paid to rogue companies like Enron, academics know very little about the practicalities of white-collar crime.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

Related Words

• clerical
• salaried