nominal wages

American  

plural noun

Economics.

1. wages measured in terms of money and not by their ability to command goods and services.

---

nominal wages British  

plural noun

1. another name for money wages

---

Etymology

Origin of nominal wages

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Modest inflation tends to reduce employers’ need to cut workers’ nominal wages during economic downturns.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

That means New Yorkers are pushed into higher income brackets as their nominal wages climb over time.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025

Total cash earnings, or nominal wages, increased 2.5% year-on-year in May, after rising a revised 0.8% in April.

From Reuters • Jul. 6, 2023

"It's difficult to sustainably achieve our 2% inflation target unless nominal wages rise steadily," Kuroda said.

From Reuters • Nov. 18, 2022

But protection has not even raised the nominal wages in most of the unprotected industries.

From American Eloquence, Volume 4 Studies In American Political History (1897) by Johnston, Alexander