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Glite Dictionary
tails

tails

2 8.2
A very formal men's suit with a coat that has a long back worn at special events
  • noun
  • /teɪlz/
  • Formal
translation icon : frack
  • In Los Angeles, the film played the lower half of the bill, supporting Universal's White Tie and Tails (1946) starring Dan Duryea at United Artists, Wilshire, and Fox Ritz theaters for a two-week run.

It's borrowed from back in the day, Edwardian times, I believe, when they when they wore the tails.

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Examples

  • - Top Hat and Tails Express.

    Protocol (1984)

  • Good evening and welcome to Tails Air flight 1012.

    Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

  • There was a slight relaxing of the rules, slight formal coats without tails, AKA tuxedo jackets.

  • He wore a classic black tails suit to the gala dinner.

  • The guests were all dressed in tails for the formal event.

  • At the wedding reception, the groom looked dashing in his tails outfit.

Synonyms

tailcoat
vstails
1 6.8

A formal coat with a short front and long tails at the back worn for evening events

is the full evening suit that includes that coat plus matching trousers
full dress
vstails
  • Formal
1 6.8

Formal evening clothes for men worn at very important events

is a man's evening suit that specifically features a cutaway coat and trousers
swallowtail
vstails
  • Formal
1 8.6

A formal men's jacket with long, narrow tails at the back

is the complete evening suit that pairs this jacket with trousers
dress suit
vstails
1 3.5

A formal men's outfit with a tailcoat and trousers for evening events

is that specific type of evening suit used at very formal events
tail coat
vstails
  • Formal
4.5

A formal evening jacket for men with a short front and long tails at the back

is the full evening suit including this jacket and matching trousers
swallow-tailed coat
vstails
8.9

A formal men's jacket with a cut-away front and two long tails worn for evening events

is the full suit for evening events that includes this jacket and trousers

Compounds

cat-o'-nine-tails
  • NSFW
1 9.9

A whip with nine knotted cords used to beat people as punishment, often on ships or in prisons

white tie and tails
  • Formal
1 8.1

A very formal evening outfit for men with a white bow tie, white waistcoat, black tailcoat, and matching trousers

kitten-tails
  • US
9.9

A small North American plant with fluffy spikes of tiny flowers like a kitten's tail

How Formal

tails
  • Formal
2 8.2
tuxedo
  • US
80 3.0
business suit
16 1.8
casual
81 1.3

Surface Forms

tails plural
tail singular

Morphology

tails = tailcoat (semi-transparent) = tail + s

The word is a clipped/elliptical form of 'tailcoat' (often used in the plural 'tails'); the relation to 'tail' is visible but the use to mean formal evening dress is a metonymic extension not fully predictable for all learners.

Etymology

Tails comes from the simple word tail, meaning 'a long back part', because early coats had long back parts like an animal's tail and these coats were called tailcoats. That's why tails now means the very formal evening suit with those long back parts, worn at very special events.