slave wage

noun

A very low amount of money paid to a worker for a specified quantity of work.

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Meanings

nounslave wage (plural slave wages)

plural slave wages

  1. A very low amount of money paid to a worker for a specified quantity of work.

    What's the situation? / An un-united nation / Working for a slave wage / What would you pay? / Kicking down a closed door / Something you could fight for / It's time to pull up / your head off the floor

    1995, “United Kids”, in Set Your Goals (cassette), performed by Civ, Lava Records, →OCLC

Origin

Probably from the idea that the wage is so low that someone receiving it is nearly or de facto enslaved.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“slave wage.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/slave%20wage. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

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

Source: slave wage on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.