minimum wage

noun

1

: living wage

2

: the lowest wage paid or permitted to be paid

specifically : a wage fixed by legal authority or by contract as the least that may be paid either to employed persons generally or to a particular category of employed persons

Examples of minimum wage in a Sentence

Congress will vote on a bill to raise the minimum wage.

Recent Examples on the Web

Their minimum wage of 21,000 Sri Lankan rupees, or $70, is roughly 13 percent of what would constitute a living wage, according to one estimate. —Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 20 Oct. 2025

The minimum wage in Iran is approximately 104 million rials, about $110 per month. —Leila Gharagozlou, CNN Money, 19 Oct. 2025

In Indonesia, protests came after news of a $3,000 monthly housing allowance for lawmakers, 10 times the minimum wage in a country where most people struggle to meet basic living costs. —Elizabeth Shackelford, Twin Cities, 16 Oct. 2025

The formula estimates income from a minimum wage summer job, even though many technical college students work year-round and earn much more than that. —Kelly Meyerhofer, jsonline.com, 15 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for minimum wage

• alienage
• age
• gauge
• phage
• plage
• rage
• stage
• assuage
• backstage
• bocage
• downstage
• engage

Kids Definition

minimum wage

noun

: a wage fixed (as by law) as the least that may be paid to employed persons

Legal Definition

minimum wage

noun

: a wage fixed by contract or especially by law as the least that may be paid either to employees generally or to a particular category of employees compare scale