slacks

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slacks

1. plural of slack

slacks pl (plural only, attributive slack)

1. (dated) Semi-formal trousers which are less formal than those that are part of a suit but nowadays are considered suitable casualwear in most offices. (Takes a plural verb even when referring to a single pair; may be referred to as a pair of slacks.)
   • 1941, Agatha Christie, N or M?:

     Discipline, that’s what we need. Discipline. How are we going to win the war without discipline? Do you know, sir, some of these fellows come on parade in slacks - so I’ve been told. Can’t expect to win a war that way. Slacks! My God!

   • 1957, J. D. Salinger, “Zooey”, in Franny and Zooey, published 1961:

     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.

The term is old-fashioned and now used mostly by older people and as applied primarily to women's trousers within traditional quarters of the U.S. clothing industry. (The term was never common in British English.) Despite being no longer considered leisurewear, they are still defined as casual trousers by all major American and British dictionaries.

slacks

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of slack