black-coated

English

Etymology

From black +‎ coated, from the black coats traditionally worn by clergy, lawyers, and other professional and clerical workers.

Adjective

black-coated (not comparable)

1. (chiefly UK, dated) White-collar, relating to office workers or office work.
   • 1945 June 25, “The British Begin Election Battle”, in Life, page 22:

     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).

   • 1956, Carlile Aylmer Macartney, October Fifteenth: A History of Modern Hungary, 1929–1945, volume 1, page 219:

     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.

   • 2008, Timothy G. McMahon, Grand Opportunity: The Gaelic Revival and Irish Society, 1893–1910, →ISBN, page 107:

     Although 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.

See also

• Not to be confused with black-collar.