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
The dress code for the evening was white tie attire, the most formal dress code.
From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026
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
He had put on a white shirt with a white tie and white flannel trousers, and a pair of bright tan, oxblood shoes.
From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater
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
“President Trump was wrong,” Pence said during remarks at the annual white-tie Gridiron Dinner attended by politicians and journalists.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 11, 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
The president was not among the 630 guests to attend Saturday’s Gridiron dinner in Washington, a white-tie gala that featured five members of his Cabinet and the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2022
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.
