white-collar

adjective

white-col·​lar ˈ(h)wīt-ˈkä-lər 

: of, relating to, or constituting the class of salaried employees whose duties do not call for the wearing of work clothes or protective clothing compare blue-collar

Examples of white-collar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, fears about AI taking white-collar jobs are everywhere, with programming one of the many fields that experts are saying are primed for disruption. —Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 2 May 2026

The pessimistic case starts from the premise that software development is different from the rest of white-collar work. —Rogé Karma, The Atlantic, 1 May 2026

Mellencamp grew up modestly but comfortably in the idyllic town of Seymour, Indiana, the son of a mother who was an artist and nascent beauty queen, and a father who worked a white-collar job with a local electrical contracting firm. —Literary Hub, 29 Apr. 2026

In a survey conducted ahead of the event, 41% of those leaders reported being highly concerned about the vulnerability of entry-level white-collar roles. —Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for white-collar

• eurodollar
• caller
• collar
• crawler
• dollar
• faller
• haller
• hauler
• holler
• scholar
• smaller
• squalor

Kids Definition

white-collar

adjective

ˈhwīt-ˈkäl-ər, 

ˈwīt-

: of, relating to, or being a member of the class of workers (as clerks and salespersons) whose duties do not require the wearing of work clothes