different between slacks vs pants

English

Noun

slacks

1. plural of slack

Noun

slacks pl (plural only)

1. (dated) Semi-formal trousers that are less formal than those part of a suit but suitable for wearing in most offices and therefore nowadays no longer considered casual trousers. (Takes a plural verb even when referring to a single pair; may be referred to as a pair of slacks)
   • 1957, J. D. Salinger, "Zooey", in, 1961, Franny and Zooey:

     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.

Usage notes

The term is old-fashioned and now used mostly by older people and by the clothing industry in the US. (It was never common in British English.) Despite being no longer considered casual clothing, they are incorrectly still defined as casual trousers by all major American and British dictionaries.

Translations

Verb

slacks

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of slack

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /pænts/
• Rhymes: -ænts

Etymology 1

Shortened from pantaloons (“trousers”).

Noun

pants pl (plural only)

1. (chiefly Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Cumbria, Lancashire, Liverpudlian, Manchester) An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers. [from 19th c.]
   • 1933, Kenneth Roberts, Rabble in Arms, 1996, page 220:

     “But they cover the legs,” Joseph explained. “That is the only reason my people wear pants: to cover the legs in the winter, or when traveling through rough country, full of thorns. In warm weather, or in open country, pants are unnecessary, uncomfortable, and foolish.”

   • 1989, Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One, Penguin (2006), page 427:

     Then he gave me a last desperate push and I tripped over the shorts caught around my ankles and fell down. I tried to pull my pants up with my boxing gloves but without success. […] In those days nobody wore underpants and I was bare-arsed and fancy free in front of everyone.

   • 2010, Ronald C. Eng (editor), Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 8th Edition, The Mountaineers Books, US, page 24:

     Look for pants with reinforced seats and knees and full-length side zippers that make it possible to put the pants on while you are wearing boots, crampons, skis, or snowshoes.

   • 2005, Octavia E. Butler, Fledgling, page 12:

     I rolled up the legs of the pants, then I went back into the trees.
2. (chiefly Britain) An undergarment that covers the genitals and often the buttocks and the neighbouring parts of the body; underpants. [from 19th c.]
   • 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, p. 39:

     I decided to pass up her underclothes, not from feelings of delicacy, but because I couldn't see myself putting her pants on and snapping her brassière.

   • 1976, Nathan H. Azrin, Richard M. Foxx, Toilet Training in Less Than a Day, 1988, page 127:

     Big girls get candy for dry pants.

   • 1984, Martin Amis, Money, Vintage (2005), page 183:

     As she bent over the intercom the little skirt went peek-a-boo and you could see white pants cupping her buttocks like a bra.

3. (Britain, slang) Rubbish; something worthless.

   You're talking pants!

   The film was a load [or pile] of pants.

Synonyms

• (outer garment): breeks, britches, hosen, slacks, strides, trousers
• (undergarment): see Thesaurus:underwear

Hyponyms

• (outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards): corduroys/cords, jeans

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ??? (pantsu)
  • ? Chinese: ?? (pàngcì)

Translations

Adjective

pants (comparative more pants, superlative most pants)

1. (Britain, slang) Of inferior quality, rubbish.

   Your mobile is pants — why don’t you get one like mine?

Translations

Etymology 2

Verb

pants (third-person singular simple present pantses, present participle pantsing, simple past and past participle pantsed)

1. To pull someone’s pants down; to forcibly remove someone’s pants.
   • 1948, University of California, Carolina Quarterly, page 47:

     Keith Gerber has been pantsed twice already this summer by Lannie and Cling, and so his face is more resolved, the fear tempered by the fact that he understands these things to be inevitable.

   • 1980, William Hogan, The Quartzsite Trip, Atheneum, page 242:

     [T]he other boys, Stretch Latham and Rod Becker mainly, pantsed him, got his jockey shorts away and threw them onto Hubcap Willie’s roof.

   • 1993, Harold Augenbraum, Ilan Stavans, Growing Up Latino: Memoirs and Stories, page 174:

     Richard did not stand too close to him, because he was always trying to pants him, and he would have died of shame if he did it tonight, because he knew his BVDs were dirty at the trap door.

Synonyms

• (pull someone’s pants down): depants, de-pants, debags, (British) keg, (Australian) dack

Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

pants

1. plural of pant

Etymology 4

Verb

pants

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of pant

Further reading

• pants on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• NAPTs, snapt

Latvian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Noun

pants m (1st declension)

1. verse, stanza (section of poem or song lyric)
2. (law) paragraph, article, clause (section of legal document)

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From English pants.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pants/, [?pãn?t?s]

Noun

pants m pl (plural only)

1. pants

Swedish

Noun

pants

1. indefinite genitive singular of pant