white-collar

6 synonyms and 2 antonyms for white-collar, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Adjective — Relating to professional, managerial or office work rather than manual labour, and to the people who do it.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

professional financial corporate

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

clerical

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

office-based salaried

Synonyms by Meaning

1. adjective

Relating to professional, managerial or office work rather than manual labour, and to the people who do it.

“White-collar jobs are concentrated in the city centre.”

professional office-based salaried clerical

Opposites

blue-collar manual

2. adjective

Describing non-violent crime committed for financial gain by people in business or government, such as fraud, embezzlement or insider dealing.

“He served two years for white-collar crime.”

financial corporate

How to use white-collar

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

white-collar worker white-collar job white-collar crime white-collar recession

Neutral; hyphenated before a noun and often after it too.

Etymology

From the white dress shirts traditionally worn by office and clerical staff.

Full origin of white-collar →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between white-collar and blue-collar?

White-collar work is done in offices and is typically salaried, professional or administrative. Blue-collar work is manual or skilled trade work — construction, manufacturing, driving, maintenance — and has traditionally been paid hourly. The names come from the shirts each group used to wear, not from pay level, and many blue-collar trades now out-earn office jobs.

What counts as white-collar crime?

Non-violent offences committed for financial advantage in a business or professional setting: fraud, embezzlement, bribery, money laundering, tax evasion, insider dealing and false accounting. The defining features are deception and abuse of a position of trust rather than force.

Are there other collar colours?

Yes, coined by analogy. Pink-collar covers traditionally female service and care roles, green-collar environmental work, grey-collar a mix of skilled manual and technical work, and new-collar technical jobs that need training but not a degree.

People also searched

financial professional corporate manual clerical blue-collar salaried

Nearby words

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