nominal wages

plural noun

: wages measured in money as distinct from actual purchasing power

Examples of nominal wages in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Rising prices and nominal wages pushed voters into higher tax brackets, draining their discretionary income. Matthew Continetti, National Review, 10 June 2023 For example, in December 2022 median nominal wages grew by 6.1% while the CPI was up 6.4%. Phillip Braun, Forbes, 3 May 2023 That’s despite nominal wages (i.e. wages which have not been adjusted for inflation) having increased 13.4% during that span. Alena Botros, Fortune, 15 Feb. 2023 While annual average nominal wages for full-time nurses in the UK have risen in the past decade, real wages — which adjust for inflation — have dropped. Rob Picheta, CNN, 15 Dec. 2022 There is also a growing understanding that nominal wages can continue to rise while inflation declines. Matthew Nestler, Fortune, 1 Dec. 2022 The pre-industrial economy yielded no productivity increases sufficient to boost real wages, and even nominal wages scarcely rose because there wasn’t much inflation in the pre-industrial economy. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 18 Oct. 2022 Inflation is causing real wages to decline despite rising nominal wages. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 10 May 2022 The second is zero future growth in nationwide average nominal wages. Laurence Kotlikoff, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nominal wages.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nominal wages was in 1814

Dictionary Entries Near nominal wages

Cite this Entry

“Nominal wages.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nominal%20wages. Accessed 22 Sep. 2023.

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