salary
Americannoun
plural
salariesnoun
verb
Usage
What is a salary? A salary is a fixed, regular payment in exchange for work. This is different from earning a fee that depends on how many hours you work (earning a fixed rate per hour) or how much work you do, sometimes called piecework.When you earn a salary, it is usually stated as the amount of money you will receive in one year for doing the work (before any taxes are paid). You will then be paid in equal amounts each pay period over the course of that year, even when you are on a paid vacation. How often you are paid will vary from company to company, with every other week and twice a month being most common.To salary someone is to pay them a salary. A salaried employee is someone who is paid a salary instead of paid another way, such as paid by the hour.Example: How can they expect me to live my best life when I’m paid on such a low salary?
Related Words
See pay 1.
Other Word Forms
- salaryless adjective
Etymology
Origin of salary
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English salarie, from Anglo-French, from Latin salārium “money given to soldiers to buy salt, salt money.” See sal, -ary
Compare meaning
How does salary compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Job security is also now a bigger priority than career advancement when evaluating a job offer, although salary remains the top factor, the survey found.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
Last March, Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase received an extension that included $109.8 million in guarantees and gave him an average annual salary of $40.3 million, according to Overthecap.com.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026
An unpaid carer is anyone who cares for a friend or relative who could not cope without their support, but does not receive a professional salary.
From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026
The flatshare in your 20s, the first job when everything is known and that modest salary feels like a king’s ransom.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026
And he really couldn’t figure out why Mr. Big Bucks Ballard was only going to give him a salary that was barely half of what Ernie Eco had promised.
From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
