living wage

noun

1
: a subsistence wage
2
: a wage sufficient to provide the necessities and comforts essential to an acceptable standard of living

Examples of living wage in a Sentence

He was barely earning a living wage.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
After all, the firm is contending with a massive headwind of costs that include around £430 million of wage hikes via national insurance contributions and higher living wages, food inflation, and elevated price competition from its peers. John Choong, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025 Using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator, the report found that 65.7% of entry-level jobs in KC pay a living wage of $22.75 an hour or $47,320 annually. Ramal Nasim, Kansas City Star, 23 June 2025 Union workers, most importantly, who couldn’t afford to feed their children and needed a living wage. Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2025 May Day typically draws rallies and protests in support of labor, living wages and working conditions. Jason Green, Mercury News, 1 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for living wage

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of living wage was in 1817

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Living wage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/living%20wage. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on living wage

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!