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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

black-collar en · ADJ

Etymology

From black market and -collar.

Meanings

  1. (not-comparable, rare) Of or pertaining to employment in the black market; that is, to engagement in illicit trade or distribution of untaxed goods and services.
    • 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 270:
    • What 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:
    • 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 52:
  2. (not-comparable, slang) Relating to creative work.
    • black-collar worker
    • 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:
  3. (not-comparable) Relating 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:
  4. (not-comparable, rare) Relating 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:

Relateds

black market · Not to be confused with black-coated

Synonyms

clerical · pastoral · black-collar · cleric · cleric · clerical

Translations (2)

cmn 黑領 /黑领 (pertaining to employment in the black market) · pl pracujący na czarnym rynku (pertaining to employment in the black market)