Definition

Noun (plural form, often treated as a singular or plural concept) 1. Payment for labor or services: A fixed regular compensation, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis, to an employee, especially for manual or non-executive work. This is the primary and most common meaning. 2. Consequences or returns, often negative: A figurative or literary use meaning the recompense or result, typically for one's actions, frequently implying a deserved outcome. This usage is often found in formal or biblical contexts.

Usage and Examples

• Noun (Payment for labor):

  • The factory workers demanded higher wages and better conditions.
  • Her hourly wages were deposited directly into her bank account.
  • The job offered good wages but required long hours.

• Noun (Consequences/Returns):

  • The politician faced the wages of his corruption in the form of public disgrace and legal charges. (This directly uses the target word in its figurative sense).
  • In the story, greed's wages were loneliness and ruin.

Advanced Usage and Notes

• Grammatical Number: "Wages" is a plural noun but can be used with both plural and sometimes singular verbs, especially in the figurative sense (e.g., "The wages of sin is death" is a fixed, proverbial phrase).
• Figurative Use: The figurative use often carries a moral or judgmental tone, suggesting that actions inevitably lead to their fitting outcomes, whether reward or punishment. It is a more formal and literary construction.

Variants and Related Words

• Wage (noun, singular): Less commonly used on its own to mean a single payment. It is more frequently used in compounds like "wage earner" or "minimum wage."
• Wage (verb): To engage in or carry on (e.g., to war, to a campaign).
• Salary (noun): A fixed regular payment, typically paid monthly, often to professional or white-collar employees.
• Stipend (noun): A fixed regular sum paid as a salary or allowance.

Synonyms

• For payment: Pay, earnings, remuneration, compensation, income.
• For consequences: Recompense, reward, returns, fruits, outcome.

Idioms and Phrases

• The wages of sin (is death): A proverbial phrase meaning that wrongdoing inevitably leads to negative consequences or punishment. This is the most famous idiomatic use of the word in its figurative sense.
  • He learned that dishonesty brings its own reward; it was the wages of sin.
• Living wage: A wage that is high enough to maintain a normal standard of living.
  • The protestors were advocating for a living wage for all service workers.

Noun

1. a recompense for worthy acts or retribution for wrongdoing
   • the wages of sin is death
   • virtue is its own reward