Meanings
- UKdatednot comparableWhite-collar, relating to office workers or office work.
Morrison, son of a policeman and a housemaid, is a born politician. He controls the city administration of London. Says he, “Labor must attract the black-coated worker” (i.e., white-collar worker).
1945 June 25, “The British Begin Election Battle”, in Life, page 222 more examples
Briefly, it limited the number of persons of Jewish religion to be admitted to the professions of the Press, the Theatre (including Films), the Law, Medicine and Engineering, and to black-coated employments both in these professions and in financial, commercial or industrial enterprises employing more than ten persons to 20 per cent.
1956, Carlile Aylmer Macartney, October Fifteenth: A History of Modern Hungary, 1929–1945, volume 1, page 219Although the largest segment of the membership, category III, included other skilled workers, the vast majority in this segment—about 90 percent—came from the expanding ranks of the black-coated workers.
2008, Timothy G. McMahon, Grand Opportunity: The Gaelic Revival and Irish Society, 1893–1910, →ISBN, page 107
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivecoated with black
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From black + coated, from the black coats traditionally worn by clergy, lawyers, and other professional and clerical workers.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
black-coated. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black-coated
“black-coated.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black-coated. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black-coated,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black-coated.
Source: black-coated on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.