Unbuttons Formal Dress Code

White House Unbuttons Formal Dress Code

Pete Souza/White House, via Bloomberg News

President Obama in a meeting last week in the Oval Office, where his predecessor required a coat and tie at all times.

unbutton Show phonetics
verb [T]
to open the buttons on a piece of clothing
He unbuttoned his jacket.

v., -toned, -ton·ing, -tons. v.tr.

1. To unfasten the buttons of.
2. To free or remove (a button) from a buttonhole.
3. To open as if by unbuttoning: unbutton the hatches.

v.intr.

To undo buttons.