Translation of “slacks” (dress pants)

Question

What is the typical way in Spanish to refer to "slacks" (or dress pants that you'd wear with a suit or other formal clothing)? Is there a universal way to distinguish them from less formal pants? WordReference doesn't have an entry for it and I don't remember hearing a word for it in my travels.

Answer 1

I haven't heard any special word for that kind of trousers in Spain. I've always heard something like

Pantalón de traje (for the trousers of a suit)

or maybe in general

Pantalón de vestir (for smart/elegant trousers)

Answer 2

Some options that you could use might include:

• pantalones de vestir
• pantalones finos
• pantalones buenos

Often times though—assuming it's clear from context—you can informally refer to them as just pantalones. You'd distinguish these from other types of pants because many of them have different informal words (e.g. mezclilla for jeans.)

I hope this helps! :)