blazer

blazer — noun

1. a smart jacket, usually plain or striped, worn with trousers or a skirt of a dif

1.nounB1
Definition

a smart jacket, usually plain or striped, worn with trousers or a skirt of a different colour. Many British schools, sports clubs, and organisations have their own blazer with a badge sewn onto the chest pocket and the group's colours on the cloth.

Example

Maya pinned her prefect badge to the front pocket of her navy school blazer.

collocation: school blazer with badge on pocket

For his interview, Marcus wore a grey blazer over a white shirt and jeans.

typical pairing: blazer + shirt + trousers

Common collocations
  • school blazer
  • navy blazer
  • striped blazer
  • tweed blazer
  • linen blazer
  • wear a blazer
  • blazer pocket
  • blazer badge
Synonyms
  • jacket

    broader term covering many styles, including casual ones; a blazer is one specific smart type

  • sport coat

    American English for a similar tailored jacket worn with non-matching trousers

  • sports jacket

    very close in meaning; often slightly less structured and without club or school colours

Grammar Patterns

a + blazer

wear + a + blazer

Usage Note

Often modified by a colour or fabric word (navy / grey / linen / tweed blazer) and by an institution word (school / club / team blazer). A blazer is dressier than a casual jacket but less formal than a full matching suit jacket.

Common Mistakes

He wore a blazer suit to the wedding.
He wore a suit to the wedding.
a blazer is worn with trousers of a different colour; a matching set is called a suit, not a blazer suit.
She put a blazer on her shoulders to keep warm outside.
She put a coat on her shoulders to keep warm outside.
a blazer is a smart indoor jacket, not outerwear for cold weather.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words name a short upper-body garment, but they sit at different points on the formality scale and signal different social contexts. A jacket is the broadest term and covers everything from a denim jacket to a leather biker jacket; it implies almost nothing about formality. A blazer is a specific smart style, usually plain dark blue or striped in club colours, often with metal or cloth buttons and a badge; British speakers strongly associate it with school, sailing, or rowing uniforms. A sport coat (American English) is close to a blazer but tends to use textured fabric like tweed and is rarely tied to an institution. A suit jacket only counts as a blazer when separated from its matching trousers — strictly, the two pieces of a suit belong together. So: 'Carlos bought a navy blazer for graduation' (smart, single garment), but 'Carlos bought a navy suit for graduation' (jacket plus matching trousers).

blazer ↗jacket ↗sport coatsuit jacket

Common collocations

Nouns

  • school blazer
  • club blazer
  • blazer pocket
  • blazer badge
  • blazer button

Phrases

  • a navy blazer
  • a striped blazer
  • a tweed blazer
  • wear a blazer

Prepositions

  • in a blazer
  • over a shirt
  • with a blazer

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

The word entered English in the 1880s, first as student slang at Cambridge University for the bright red flannel jackets worn by the St John's College boat club; the colour was so vivid that people said the rowers looked like they were on fire, and the jackets were nicknamed 'blazers'. The word soon spread to other coloured and striped jackets used by sports clubs and schools, and from there to the smart navy or grey jackets we wear today. The root is the verb 'blaze', meaning to burn brightly, which itself goes back to an Old English word for a flame or torch.