nominal wages

American  

plural noun

Economics.

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

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nominal wages British  

plural noun

1. another name for money wages

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Etymology

Origin of nominal wages

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

As nominal wages continue to increase, the middle class will make up an ever larger share of those who pay the net investment tax.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

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

The railways have said they are willing to accept the board’s recommendations, which included increasing nominal wages by 22 percent over five years and largely maintaining the status quo for health insurance benefits.

From New York Times • Sep. 14, 2022

We also heard of planters who, realizing the inevitable, have manumitted the few slaves whom they still held in bondage, and hiring them at merely nominal wages, believed they saved money by the operation.

From Due South or Cuba Past and Present by Ballou, Maturin Murray