blue-collar

[bloo-kol-er] /ˈbluˈkɒl ər/

adjective

of or pertaining to wage-earning workers who wear work clothes or other specialized clothing on the job, as mechanics, longshoremen, and miners.

noun

a blue-collar worker.

Origin

1945-50

Examples from the web for blue-collar

It's unclear whether the findings generalize to blue-collar workers and employees in the private sector, the authors report.
We know, moreover, that blue-collar workers usually agree to overtime because they want or need the extra money.
Rising unemployment rates, stagnant wages and falling living standards prompted blue-collar workers to return to the barricades.
The engineers have had to join more teams with blue-collar workers.
And you work with blue-collar people, which is so different from the rest of my world.
The blue-collar bastion of our red-white-and-blue military is also part of the story.
blue-collar layoffs have started turning into white-collar layoffs.
The dish maintained its popularity, particularly in blue-collar homes, but dropped the outlandish accoutrements.
It's the blue-collar city of neighborhoods and taverns and parishes.
The place is blue-collar and modest but well-kept and welcoming.

British Dictionary definitions for blue-collar

adjective

of, relating to, or designating manual industrial workers: a blue-collar union Compare white-collar, pink-collar

blue-collar in Culture

A descriptive term widely used for manual laborers, as opposed to white-collar for office workers.

Note: The term is often associated with conservative values.

Slang definitions & phrases for blue-collar

modifier

Working-class: a blue-collar neighborhood/ blue-collar concerns

[1940s+; fr the color of the traditional workshirt]