Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to or engaged in work for which one receives regular monetary payment, typically on an hourly or per-task basis: Describes individuals, activities, or status associated with receiving wages.
   • Characteristic of the working class, especially manual or industrial laborers: Pertaining to the social or economic group whose primary income is from wages.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The new policy aims to protect wage-earning employees in the manufacturing sector.
  • She comes from a traditional wage-earning family.
  • A large portion of the country's population is in wage-earning employment.

Advanced Usage

• Used to distinguish labor compensated via wages from salaried, freelance, or profit-sharing work structures.
  • The study compared the job security of salaried professionals versus wage-earning staff.

Variants and Related Words

• Wage earner (noun): A person who works for wages.
  • The program provides benefits to low-income wage earners.
• Wage (noun/verb): Regular payment for work (noun) or to carry on (a war or campaign) (verb).
• Earning (noun): Money obtained in return for labor or services.

Synonyms

• Working-class
• Blue-collar
• Hourly-paid
• Proletarian (in socioeconomic contexts)

Antonyms

• Salaried
• Professional (in some contexts)
• Self-employed
• Capital-owning

Related Phrases

• Wage-earning population: The segment of a population that works for wages.
• Primary wage earner: The main income provider in a household.

Adjective

1. of those who work for wages especially manual or industrial laborers
   • party of the propertyless proletariat- G.B.Shaw
2. working for hourly wages rather than fixed (e.g. annual) salaries
   • working-class occupations include manual as well as industrial labor