Suit vs. Smoking — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman & Fiza Rafique — Updated on April 8, 2024
A suit is a formal set of men's wear, versatile for various occasions, while a smoking jacket, or tuxedo, is specifically designed for evening social events.
Difference Between Suit and Smoking
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A suit typically comprises a jacket and trousers made from the same fabric, intended for business, formal, or semi-formal occasions. On the other hand, a smoking jacket, often referred to in modern times as a tuxedo, is a specific type of evening wear designed for more formal events, traditionally worn with a bow tie.
The fabric and design of suits can vary widely, allowing for a range of styles suitable for different settings and climates. Whereas smoking jackets are traditionally made from luxurious materials like silk, satin, or velvet, featuring a shawl collar and are intended for wear in the evening.
Suits are generally paired with a tie and can be worn with a variety of shirt colors and patterns, making them adaptable to various events and personal styles. Smoking jackets, however, are typically worn with a white dress shirt, a bow tie, and often a cummerbund or waistcoat, adhering to a more specific dress code.
The versatility of suits means they can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion, from business meetings to weddings. Smoking jackets, while offering a high degree of formality and elegance, are primarily reserved for black-tie events and similar high-formality occasions.
Suits are considered a staple in a man's wardrobe, offering a range of options for daily wear or special occasions. Smoking jackets, by contrast, represent a specialized category of formal wear, often not as commonly owned but highly valued for specific formal events.
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Comparison Chart
Occasion
Business, formal, semi-formal
Evening formal events
Fabric
Varied (wool, cotton, linen, etc.)
Luxurious (silk, satin, velvet)
Design Features
Standard lapels, may have vents
Shawl collar, luxurious details
Dress Code
Tie, various shirts
Bow tie, white dress shirt, cummerbund
Versatility
High, adaptable to many occasions
Low, specific to formal evening events
Compare with Definitions
Suit
A formal or semi-formal outfit.
He wore a navy blue suit to the business conference.
Smoking
Designed for formal evening wear.
He selected a classic black tuxedo for the gala.
Suit
Comprises matching jacket and trousers.
His suit was tailored perfectly, enhancing his silhouette.
Smoking
Worn with a white shirt and bow tie.
The dress code required a tuxedo with a black bow tie.
Suit
Versatile in fabric and style.
Summer weddings often see suits in lighter fabrics like linen.
Smoking
Features luxurious materials.
His smoking jacket was made of the finest silk with a satin lapel.
Suit
Staple wardrobe item.
Every man should own at least one well-fitting suit.
Smoking
Less versatile, for specific occasions.
Owning a tuxedo is essential for attending formal events.
Suit
A set of outer clothes made of the same fabric and designed to be worn together, typically consisting of a jacket and trousers or a jacket and skirt
A pinstriped suit
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have been rolled into a small rectangle of rolling paper to create a small, round cylinder called a "cigarette".
Suit
Any of the sets into which a pack of playing cards is divided (in conventional packs comprising spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs).
Smoking
Engaging in the smoking of tobacco
Smoking passengers.
Suit
A lawsuit.
Smoking
Designated or reserved for smokers
The smoking section of a restaurant.
Suit
The process of trying to win a woman's affection with a view to marriage
He could not compete with John in Marian's eyes and his suit came to nothing
Smoking
Of or relating to the use of tobacco
Corporate smoking policies.
Suit
A complete set of sails required for a ship or for a set of spars
They went ashore and changed to another suit of sails
Smoking
Inflection of smoke
Suit
Be convenient for or acceptable to
The flat has two bedrooms—if it suits, you can have one of them
What time would suit you?
Smoking
Giving off smoke.
Suit
Enhance the features, figure, or character of (someone)
The dress didn't suit her
Smoking
(slang) Showing great skill or talent.
The band put on a smoking performance.
Suit
Put on clothes, especially for a particular activity
I suited up and entered the water
Smoking
The act or process of emitting smoke.
Suit
A set of matching outer garments, especially one consisting of a coat with trousers or a skirt, often worn on formal occasions.
Smoking
The burning and inhalation of tobacco.
Smoking can lead to lung cancer.
Suit
(Slang)A person, especially an executive, who wears one of these garments at work.
Smoking
(by extension) The burning and inhalation of other substances, e.g. marijuana.
Suit
An outfit worn for a special activity
A diving suit.
A running suit.
Smoking
The act of exposing (something) to smoke; (by extension) the process by which foods are cured or flavoured by smoke
Suit
A group of things used together; a set or collection
A suit of sails.
A suit of tools.
Smoking
A bantering; teasing; mockery.
Suit
(Games)Any of the four sets of 13 playing cards (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) in a standard deck, the members of which bear the same marks.
Smoking
The act of smoking tobacco or other substances;
He went outside for a smoke
Smoking stinks
Suit
Attendance required of a vassal at his feudal lord's court or manor.
Smoking
A hot vapor containing fine particles of carbon being produced by combustion;
The fire produced a tower of black smoke that could be seen for miles
Suit
(Law)A lawsuit.
Smoking
Emitting smoke in great volume;
A smoking fireplace
Suit
The act or an instance of courting a woman; courtship
She was inclined to accept his suit.
Smoking
Symbolizes elegance and formality.
At the award ceremony, the tuxedo added to his distinguished look.
Suit
To meet the requirements of; fit
This candidate does not suit our qualifications.
Suit
To make appropriate or suitable; adapt
Builders who suit the house to the owner's specifications.
Suit
To be appropriate for; befit
A color that suits you.
Suit
To please; satisfy
A choice that suits us all.
Suit
To provide with clothing; dress
The NCOs suited the recruits in green uniforms.
Suit
To be suitable or acceptable.
Suit
To be in accord; agree or match.
Suit
A set of clothes to be worn together, now especially a man's matching jacket and trousers (also business suit or lounge suit), or a similar outfit for a woman.
Nick hired a navy-blue suit for the wedding.
Suit
(by extension) A garment or set of garments suitable and/or required for a given task or activity: space suit, boiler suit, protective suit, swimsuit.
Suit
A person who wears matching jacket and trousers, especially a boss or a supervisor.
Be sure to keep your nose to the grindstone today; the suits are making a "surprise" visit to this department.
Suit
A full set of armour.
Suit
(legal) The attempt to gain an end by legal process; a process instituted in a court of law for the recovery of a right or claim; a lawsuit.
If you take my advice, you'll file a suit against him immediately.
Suit
Petition, request, entreaty.
Suit
The act of following or pursuing; pursuit, chase.
Suit
Pursuit of a love-interest; wooing, courtship.
Suit
(obsolete) The act of suing; the pursuit of a particular object or goal.
Suit
The full set of sails required for a ship.
Suit
(card games) Each of the sets of a pack of cards distinguished by color and/or specific emblems, such as the spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs of traditional Anglo, Hispanic, and French playing cards.
Suit
(obsolete) Regular order; succession.
Every five and thirty years the same kind and suit of weather comes again.
Suit
(archaic) A company of attendants or followers; a retinue.
Suit
(archaic) A group of similar or related objects or items considered as a whole; a suite (of rooms etc.)
Suit
(transitive) To make proper or suitable; to adapt or fit.
Suit
To be suitable or apt for one's image.
The ripped jeans didn't suit her elegant image.
That new top suits you. Where did you buy it?
Suit
(transitive) To be appropriate or apt for.
The nickname "Bullet" suits her, since she is a fast runner.
Suit
To dress; to clothe.
Suit
To please; to make content; to fit one's taste.
He is well suited with his place.
My new job suits me, as I work fewer hours and don't have to commute so much.
Suit
(intransitive) To agree; to be fitted; to correspond (usually followed by to, archaically also followed by with)
Suit
The act of following or pursuing, as game; pursuit.
Suit
The act of suing; the process by which one endeavors to gain an end or an object; an attempt to attain a certain result; pursuit; endeavor.
Thenceforth the suit of earthly conquest shone.
Suit
The act of wooing in love; the solicitation of a woman in marriage; courtship.
Rebate your loves, each rival suit suspend,Till this funereal web my labors end.
Suit
The attempt to gain an end by legal process; an action or process for the recovery of a right or claim; legal application to a court for justice; prosecution of right before any tribunal; as, a civil suit; a criminal suit; a suit in chancery.
I arrest thee at the suit of Count Orsino.
In England the several suits, or remedial instruments of justice, are distinguished into three kinds - actions personal, real, and mixed.
Suit
That which follows as a retinue; a company of attendants or followers; the assembly of persons who attend upon a prince, magistrate, or other person of distinction; - often written suite, and pronounced swēt.
Suit
Things that follow in a series or succession; the individual objects, collectively considered, which constitute a series, as of rooms, buildings, compositions, etc.; - often written suite, and pronounced swēt.
Suit
A number of things used together, and generally necessary to be united in order to answer their purpose; a number of things ordinarily classed or used together; a set; as, a suit of curtains; a suit of armor; a suit of clothes; a three-piece business suit.
Suit
One of the four sets of cards which constitute a pack; - each set consisting of thirteen cards bearing a particular emblem, as hearts, spades, clubs, or diamonds; also, the members of each such suit held by a player in certain games, such as bridge; as, hearts were her long suit.
To deal and shuffle, to divide and sortHer mingled suits and sequences.
Suit
Regular order; succession.
Every five and thirty years the same kind and suit of weather comes again.
Suit
Someone who dresses in a business suit, as contrasted with more informal attire;
Suit
To fit; to adapt; to make proper or suitable; as, to suit the action to the word.
Suit
To be fitted to; to accord with; to become; to befit.
Ill suits his cloth the praise of railing well.
Raise her notes to that sublime degreeWhich suits song of piety and thee.
Suit
To dress; to clothe.
So went he suited to his watery tomb.
Suit
To please; to make content; as, he is well suited with his place; to suit one's taste.
Suit
To agree; to accord; to be fitted; to correspond; - usually followed by with or to.
The place itself was suiting to his care.
Give me not an officeThat suits with me so ill.
Suit
A comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy;
The family brought suit against the landlord
Suit
A set of garments (usually including a jacket and trousers or skirt) for outerwear all of the same fabric and color;
They buried him in his best suit
Suit
Playing card in any of four sets of 13 cards in a pack; each set has its own symbol and color;
A flush is five cards in the same suit
In bridge you must follow suit
What suit is trumps?
Suit
A businessman dressed in a business suit;
All the suits care about is the bottom line
Suit
A man's courting of a woman; seeking the affections of a woman (usually with the hope of marriage);
Its was a brief and intense courtship
Suit
A petition or appeal made to a person of superior status or rank
Suit
Be agreeable or acceptable to;
This suits my needs
Suit
Be agreeable or acceptable;
This time suits me
Suit
Accord or comport with;
This kind of behavior does not suit a young woman!
Suit
Enhance the appearance of;
Mourning becomes Electra
This behavior doesn't suit you!
Suit
Paired with ties and various shirts.
For his interview, he chose a grey suit with a crisp white shirt.
Common Curiosities
What differentiates a suit from a smoking jacket?
Suits are versatile and suitable for various settings, while smoking jackets are for formal evening events and feature more luxurious materials and specific styling.
What is a smoking jacket?
Traditionally, a smoking jacket is a men's evening jacket made from luxurious materials, now commonly known as a tuxedo for formal events.
Can suits be worn to any event?
Suits are versatile and can be adapted for many occasions, from business meetings to weddings, depending on the style and fabric.
How do I choose a suit for daily wear?
Choose a suit in a versatile fabric and color, such as navy or grey, that can be mixed and matched with different shirts and ties.
Are smoking jackets only worn in the evening?
Yes, smoking jackets or tuxedos are specifically designed for evening formal events.
What materials are suits made from?
Suits are made from various materials, including wool, cotton, linen, and synthetic blends, suitable for different climates and preferences.
What is the significance of the smoking jacket's luxurious materials?
The luxurious materials of a smoking jacket signify elegance and high social standing, especially suited for formal evening gatherings.
What accessories go with a smoking jacket?
Accessories for a smoking jacket include a bow tie, cummerbund or waistcoat, and often patent leather shoes.
Why is the smoking jacket also called a tuxedo?
The term tuxedo comes from Tuxedo Park, NY, where the jacket gained popularity. It's synonymous with smoking jackets in formal wear.
What is a suit?
A suit is a set of men's wear, typically including a jacket and trousers made from the same material, suitable for a variety of formal and semi-formal occasions.
Is a bow tie necessary with a smoking jacket?
Traditionally, a bow tie complements a smoking jacket or tuxedo for formal occasions.
Can I wear a suit to a black-tie event?
Typically, black-tie events require a tuxedo or smoking jacket, but modern interpretations may allow dark, formal suits.
How should a suit fit?
A suit should fit well, tailored to the wearer's body, ensuring comfort and a sharp appearance.
Can a suit be casual?
Yes, suits can be styled casually, depending on the fabric, color, and how they are accessorized.
What are the key features of a smoking jacket?
Key features include luxurious fabric, a shawl collar, and a tailored fit, designed for elegance at formal events.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
