surplus value

American  

noun

1. (in Marxian economics) the part of the value of a commodity that exceeds the cost of labor, regarded as the profit of the capitalist.

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Etymology

Origin of surplus value

First recorded in 1885–90

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

surplus value

There was just one problem with Minnesota’s plan: the potential surplus value offered by McCarthy’s contract has been rendered obsolete by the fact he has been completely terrible.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025

With the rookie wage scale slotting salaries by pick regardless of position, it is more difficult for teams to generate surplus value by taking a tight end.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2024

The best definition that I’ve come across comes from anthropologist Hadas Weiss’s work on the middle class, where she suggests that we might understand capitalism as a form of unplanned surplus value accumulation.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 17, 2022

Marx proposed the concept of surplus value as a contradictory force within capitalism.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 15, 2022

The relation between wages and surplus value, or between paid and unpaid labour, or, shortly, s/v, Marx calls the rate of surplus value: it expresses the degree of the exploitation of labour.

From The life and teaching of Karl Marx by M. Beer

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