salary
[noun]
Synonyms: pay, earnings, income, wage, wages

---

English Thesaurus: pay, meet the cost of something, foot the bill, pick up the tab, fork out/shell out, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

sal‧a‧ry S2 W3 /ˈsæləri/ noun (plural salaries) [uncountable and countable]
[Date: 1200-1300; Language: Latin; Origin: salarium 'money to pay for salt', from sal 'salt']
money that you receive as payment from the organization you work for, usually paid to you every month ⇒ wage, pay:
The average salary for a teacher is $39,000 a year.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

salary
noun
ADJ. competitive, generous, good, handsome, high, large, top Top salaries are liable for a higher rate of tax.
low, small | reasonable | average | basic | pensionable | gross | net | starting | current | final Your pension will be based on a proportion of your final salary.
annual, monthly | tax-free
VERB + SALARY pay (sb) | earn, receive | increase | cut, decrease, reduce
SALARY + NOUN package The position is rewarded with a generous salary package.
award, increase, rise The top salary awards are completely out of line with inflation.
cut | level | review | band, grade, range What salary band will I be on after two years in the company?
scale, structure | bill, costs
PREP. on a ~ It's impossible to bring up a family on such a low salary.
PHRASES an increase/a rise in salary, a cut/drop in salary Workers are being asked to take a cut in salary.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

salary

earn/get/receive a salary
She’s now earning a good salary as an interpreter.
be on a salary British English (=be earning a salary)
He won’t tell me what salary he’s on.
command a salary formal (=be able to get a particular salary)
Which graduates command the highest salaries?
pay somebody a salary
Large companies often pay better salaries.
offer somebody a salary
We offer competitive salaries to graduates.
increase sb’s salary
His salary was increased to £80,000 a year.
cut sb’s salary (=reduce someone’s salary)
They will cut salaries before they cut jobs.
high/good
She moved to a job with a higher salary.
low
It sounds an interesting job, but the salary is too low.
a six-figure salary (=one over £100,000 or $100,000)
He’s now a top executive with a six-figure salary.
annual salary
His annual salary is $200,000.
monthly salary
What's your monthly salary?
current salary
His current salary is just over £30,000 a year.
basic/base salary (=the basic amount that someone is paid)
You get a basic salary, and then other benefits on top.
starting salary (=the salary someone gets when they start a job)
The starting salary for a hotel manager is $26,400.
final salary
Your pension is based on a proportion of your final salary.
a salary increase
He was given a huge salary increase.
a salary cut (=a decrease in someone’s salary)
The workforce agreed to take salary cuts.
the salary scale/structure (=the list of increasing salaries that someone in a job can earn)
He is almost at the top of his salary scale.
a drop/cut in salary (=a reduction in salary)
He couldn’t afford to take a drop in salary.
an increase/rise in salary
They were offered a 10% increase in salary.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

salary
noun
BAD: The salary is 800 yen an hour.
GOOD: The pay/wage is 800 yen an hour.
BAD: The basic salary is £60 per week.
GOOD: The basic pay/wage is £60 per week.

Usage Note:
A salary is the amount of money that someone earns for a year's work, usually paid once a month directly into their bank account: 'I'll pay you back at the end of the month when I get my salary.' 'She's on a salary of £23,000 a year.'
If someone is paid once a week, they receive wages . In the past, wages were always paid in cash: 'He opened the envelope and counted his wages.' When you are thinking about rates or levels of payment (rather than actual coins and bank notes), use wage : 'She earns a pretty good wage.' 'They're demanding a 20 per cent wage increase.' 'They've raised the minimum wage from $4.25 an hour to $5.50.'
Pay is a general word for the (amount of) money people get for the work they do: 'He's lost a month's pay.' 'They've been given a pay rise of £20 a week.'
Note that in informal styles these words are often used with the same meaning.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

pay to give someone money for something you are buying from them, or a service they are providing:
I paid a lot of money for that computer.
You have to pay to park your car.
meet the cost of something to pay for something for someone else, or to provide the money needed to do something:
We will meet the cost of your travelling expenses.
The cost will be met from public donations.
foot the bill to pay for something for someone else, especially when you do not want to, or do not think that you should:
As usual, the taxpayer will have to foot the bill.
pick up the tab informal to pay for something:
My company will pick up the tab for all moving costs.
fork out/shell out informal to pay a lot of money for something because you have to and not because you want to:
He had to fork out £500 to get his car fixed.
Fans are having to shell out roughly $65 per seat for football games.
settle the bill to pay the bill after eating a meal, staying in a hotel etc:
She went down to the hotel lobby to settle the bill.
give especially spoken to pay a particular amount of money for something – used especially when saying how much you are willing to pay:
How much will you give me for the car?
I’ll give you $50 for the lot (=for everything).
something is on somebody spoken used when saying that someone else will pay for your meal, drinks etc:
Order whatever you like – this is on me!
The drinks are on the house (=the bar, restaurant etc will let you have them for free).
Put your money away – the drinks are on us.
low
Nurses often work long hours for relatively low pay.
good
The work was steady and the pay was pretty good.
higher/better
Workers demanded higher pay.
equal pay (=the same pay for the same type of work)
The women at the factory went on strike for equal pay.
basic pay British English, base pay American English (=not including overtime pay or bonuses)
The basic pay is so low you end up doing lots of overtime.
take-home pay (=after tax etc has been taken away)
Their average take-home pay is just £120.
overtime pay (=for extra hours that you work)
Their bosses had to approve any overtime pay.
holiday pay British English, vacation pay American English (=pay when you are on holiday)
Servicemen and women get no holiday pay, no overtime, no weekends off.
sick pay (=pay when you are ill)
As a self-employed person, you get no sick pay or benefits.
maternity pay (=pay while a woman takes time off to have a baby)
If you have worked here a year, you are entitled to 3 month’s maternity pay.
redundancy pay British English, severance pay American English (=pay when there is no longer a job for you)
We invested our redundancy pay in a new business venture.
full pay
They were immediately suspended on full pay pending a full inquiry.
half pay
In 1822 he retired from the army as captain on half pay.
a pay increase
Teachers will be awarded a 6% pay increase this year.
a pay rise British English, pay raise American English
If you get promoted, will you get a pay rise?
a pay cut
Staff were asked to take a 10% pay cut.
a rate of pay (also a pay rate) (=the amount paid every hour, week etc)
Many workers in the catering industry are on low rates of pay.
a pay cheque British English, a paycheck American English (=the money you earn every week or month)
Stretching your money until the next pay cheque arrives often becomes difficult.
a pay freeze (=when no one’s pay is increased)
Ministers have approved a public sector pay freeze.
a pay claim British English (=official request for more pay)
The miners voted for strike action in support of their pay claim.
a pay dispute (=disagreement between an employer and employees about pay)
Many flights were cancelled because of a pilots’ pay dispute.
pay and conditions (=the conditions in which people work and the pay they get)
The unions are demanding better pay and conditions.
income money that you receive from working, investments etc:
families on a low income
salary the pay that professional people such as teachers or lawyers earn every year:
a salary of $65,000 a year
wages the pay that someone earns every hour or every week:
Her wages barely cover the rent.
bonus money added to someone’s pay, as a reward for good work or as a reward when the company does well:
The company pays an attendance bonus – if you go 30 days without being late or absent, you get the bonus.
earnings all the money that you earn by working:
In a good year, a bonus can double an executive’s earnings.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

salary noun [countable] the money that you receive regularly for doing your job, usually paid to you every month. Salary is usually used for professional jobs such as teachers, managers, doctors etc:
Nurses earn a basic salary of £21,250.
Her salary is paid directly into her bank account.
pay noun [uncountable] the money you receive for doing a job:
The pay is pretty good.
Teachers are asking for higher pay.
wages noun [plural] (also wage [singular]) the money that someone is paid every week by their employer, especially someone who works in a shop or factory:
Practically all my wages go on housing and transport to work.
The average weekly wage was £350.
a wage increase
income noun [uncountable and countable] the money that you receive regularly for doing your job, and from things such as a business or investments:
The amount of tax you have to pay depends on your income.
People on low incomes are finding it difficult to pay their fuel bills.
earnings noun [plural] the total amount of money you earn from any job you do – used especially when the amount is different each month or year:
The average worker’s earnings have not kept up with inflation.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲