Meanings
comparative more white-collar · superlative most white-collar · alternative whitecollar · alternative white collar
- Of or pertaining to office work and workers.
This being a motion picture star is a real business. It's a job, and not always a white collar one, either.
1929 December, Betty Boone, “The Price of this Stardom”, in Screenland, page 22Synonyms: black-coated
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf or pertaining to office work and workers.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof or designating salaried professional or clerical work or workers
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From the color of dress shirts worn by professional and clerical workers, as opposed to the rugged denim and chambray shirts normally worn by manual workers.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan de guant blanc, de coll blanc
- de guant blancof or pertaining to office work and workers
- de coll blancof or pertaining to office work and workers
Chinese Mandarin 白領 /白领
- 白領 /白领 (báilǐng)of or pertaining to office work and workers
Dutch witteboorden-
- witteboorden-of or pertaining to office work and workers
Finnish valkokaulus-
- valkokaulus-of or pertaining to office work and workers
French col blanc
- col blancof or pertaining to office work and workers
Hindi सफ़ेदपोश
- सफ़ेदपोश (safedpoś)of or pertaining to office work and workers
Indonesian kerah putih
- kerah putihof or pertaining to office work and workers
Japanese ホワイトカラー
- ホワイトカラー (howaito karā)of or pertaining to office work and workers
Korean 화이트칼라
- 화이트칼라 (hwaiteukalla)of or pertaining to office work and workers
Malay kolar putih
- kolar putihof or pertaining to office work and workers
Polish pracujący w biurze
- pracujący w biurzeof or pertaining to office work and workers
Portuguese de/do colarinho branco
- de/do colarinho brancoof or pertaining to office work and workers
Russian канцеля́рский, конто́рский
- канцеля́рский (kanceljárskij)of or pertaining to office work and workers
- конто́рский (kontórskij)of or pertaining to office work and workers
- о́фисный (ófisnyj)of or pertaining to office work and workers
- «чи́стый»of or pertaining to office work and workers
- «бе́лый воротничо́к»of or pertaining to office work and workers
Welsh coler wen
- coler wenof or pertaining to office work and workers
Cite this entry
white-collar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white-collar
“white-collar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white-collar. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “white-collar,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/white-collar.
Source: white-collar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.