slacks

slacks

See also: släcks

English

Noun

slacks

1. (dated) (plural only) Semi-formal trousers that are less formal than those part of a suit but suitable for wearing in most offices and therefore nowadays no longer considered casual trousers. (Takes a plural verb even when referring to a single pair; may be referred to as a pair of slacks)
   • 1957, J. D. Salinger, "Zooey", in, 1961, Franny and Zooey:

     Not five minutes later, Zooey, with his hair combed wet, stood wet, stood barefoot at the washbowl, wearing a pair of beltless dark-gray sharkskin slacks, a face towel across his bare shoulders.

2. plural of slack

Usage notes

The term is old-fashioned and now used mostly by older people and by the clothing industry in the US. (It was never common in British English.) Despite being no longer considered casual clothing, they are incorrectly still defined as casual trousers by all major American and British dictionaries.

Translations

Semi-formal trousers not part of a suit

Dutch: French:

German: Slacks (de) pl Irish: bríste (ga) m, treabhsar m

Verb

slacks

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of slack