white-shoe (w?t?sho?o?, hw?t?-)adj. Of or being a long-established business known for reputable service and a wealthy clientele: “took a job at … [a] pronouncedly white-shoe investment-banking firm” (Connie Bruck).[From the white buckskin shoes once commonly worn by Ivy League undergraduates and considered typical dress of the American upper class.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.white?-shoe? adj. of or pertaining to members of the upper class who own or run large corporations: white-shoe bankers; a conservative white-shoe image. [1975?80; appar. from the white shoes popular as moderately formal wear among suburban men] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.