tighty-whities

plural noun

tighty-whit·​ies ˈtī-tē-ˈwī-tēz How to pronounce tighty-whities (audio)
variants or less commonly tighty-whiteys
slang
: snug white underpants for men : white briefs

Examples of tighty-whities in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Recent footage saw him in tighty-whities, baptizing townsfolk in a river. Raven Smith, Vogue, 16 Oct. 2024 How the handsome young corpse in the tighty-whities ended up being her problem isn’t important. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2024 From Emma Corrin wearing Miu Miu pants at last year’s Venice Film Festival to Bella Hadid’s tighty-whities and UGG boots, the underwear as outerwear trend has seen multiple iterations over the last few years. Ebony-Renee Baker, refinery29.com, 5 Aug. 2024 David is seen in the photo trying to fix the couple's TV, wearing only his tighty-whities with all his tattoos on full display. Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024 My dying brother with his CZ 75, me in my tighty-whities with a baseball bat, and my mother in her bata fumbling with her glasses. Junot Díaz, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2023 Oh damn, Aidan looks good clothing-less, but…tighty-whities? Emma Specter, Vogue, 10 Aug. 2023 From serving drinks to passengers on a transatlantic flight to posing in his tighty-whities for a billboard, Lewis Capaldi’s reputation as music’s joker is hard-won. Mike Wass, Variety, 6 Apr. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1990, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of tighty-whities was in 1990

Dictionary Entries Near tighty-whities

Cite this Entry

“Tighty-whities.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tighty-whities. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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