bread and roses

noun

Fair wages and dignified conditions.

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Meanings

nounbread and roses pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlygovernmentFair wages and dignified conditions.

Origin

Originated in a speech given by American women's suffrage activist Helen Todd; a line in that speech about "bread for all, and roses too" inspired the poem Bread and Roses by James Oppenheim, which was published in 1911.

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Cite this entry
APA

bread and roses. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bread%20and%20roses

MLA

“bread and roses.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bread%20and%20roses. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bread and roses,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bread%20and%20roses.

Source: bread and roses on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.