Meanings
- not comparablerareOf or pertaining to employment in the black market; that is, to engagement in illicit trade or distribution of untaxed goods and services.
Why can't we pass a law whereby every white/blue/black-collar worker with children pay into a fund about P20.00 a week from his pay.
1991, Search ResultsBusiness Journal, volume 66, number 7, page 522 more examples
Rewards necessarily drop for the former — not only because their numbers increase relatively but also because their output per man-hour does not rise as rapidly as that of the black-collar worker.
1946, The Ethical Outlook, page 270What attitudes, types of ideas and particular experiences would lead a "blue collar worker" to perceive the evidence of the defendant's guilt differently than a white, pink or black collar worker?
1979, Reports of Cases Determined in the Courts of Appeal of the State of California - not comparableslangRelating to creative work.
black-collar worker
1 more example
In Helsinki, the inner-city workers' housing which was once uniformly red, now occupied by ‘black-collar’ workers—creative industry types who wear a T-shirt to work—votes solidly green.
2012, Olaf Cramme, Patrick Diamond, editors, After the Third Way: The Future of Social Democracy in Europe, I.B. Tauris, →ISBN, page 176 - not comparableRelating to coalminers and oil workers.
Even if you add to this the 4200 jobs created each year by the energy-efficiency measures for which the Rudd government claims credit, it is completely negated by the ‘black-collar’ jobs being added as Queensland and New South Wales expand coal exports.
2010, Robert Manne, David McKnight, editors, Goodbye to All That? […] , Black Inc., →ISBN, page 257 - not comparablerareRelating to the clergy.
This is scarcely the first crisis involving what an Australian victims' group, Broken Rites, has termed black-collar crime. But never before has a scandal cast doubts on the judgment and authority of a pope.
2010 March 19, Riazat Butt, John Hooper, “Calamity for pope as the past – and case of Peter Hullermann – returns to haunt him”, in The Guardian
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 黑領 /黑领
- 黑領 /黑领 (hēilǐng)pertaining to employment in the black market
Polish pracujący na czarnym rynku
- pracujący na czarnym rynkupertaining to employment in the black market
Cite this entry
black-collar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black-collar
“black-collar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black-collar. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black-collar,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black-collar.
Source: black-collar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.