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Glite Dictionary
tail coat

tail coat

4.5
A formal evening jacket for men with a short front and long tails at the back
  • noun
  • /teɪl koʊt/
  • Formal
translation icon : chaqué
  • He wore a classic black tail coat to the formal gala, completing his elegant look.

Examples

  • For the opera, he opted for a stylish tail coat with long tails to match his formal attire.

  • Her captain strides the narrow quarterdeck, a short lowering figure in a cocked hat, blue brass-buttoned tail coat with white facings, and white nankeen breeches.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • At the wedding, many guests were dressed in tail coats, adding to the event's sophisticated atmosphere.

Synonyms

tails
vstail coat
  • Formal
2 8.2

A very formal men's suit with a coat that has a long back worn at special events

names the specific evening jacket rather than the whole formal suit
tailcoat
vstail coat
1 6.8

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

has identical meaning but is written as two separate words
swallowtail
vstail coat
  • Formal
1 8.6

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

uses the standard term emphasizing traditional evening wear
swallow-tailed coat
vstail coat
8.9

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

focuses on the general evening jacket shape, not the cutaway front

Surface Forms

tail coat singular
tail coats plural

Morphology

tails + coat

The meaning 'a formal coat with long tails at the back' is directly and compositionally derived from 'tail' (the rear/long appendage or rear part) + 'coat' (an outer garment). This noun+noun composition is a transparent descriptive pattern that a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer.

Etymology

Tail coat comes from its shape: it has a short front and long double tails at the back, a style that began with riding and dress coats so the long tails could hang while a man sat on a horse. That's why the tail coat became the special 'formal' or 'evening' jacket worn to very dressy events.