Pay Raise: Definition, Examples & Usage

Meaning 1：a salary increase (Pay raise)

Pay raise 🔊

/peɪ reɪz/

An increase in the money you earn from your job, often for good work or time served.

Employee smiling with a pay raise paycheck at office desk

a salary increase 🔊

➕

/ə ˈsæləri ɪnˈkriːs/

An upward adjustment in the amount of money an employee receives for their work, typically due to merit, promotion, or inflation.

📁 Category：Social Economy 🔖 Level：intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

Pay (from Latin pacare, to pacify) + raise (from Old Norse reisa, to cause to rise).

💡 Mnemonic

Imagine a lever labeled 'pay' being pushed upward by a green arrow, representing a raise in salary.

📖 Example

After completing a successful project, Mark was thrilled to hear about his pay raise during the team meeting. 🔊 Mark was overjoyed to discover that his team meeting announcement included a pay raise after his successful project.

🔗 Collocations

get a pay raise – to receive an increase in salary

ask for a pay raise – to request a salary increase from an employer

annual pay raise – a yearly increase in wages

🔄 Synonyms

salary increase (n.) – An upward change in the base pay an employee receives.

wage hike (n.) – A slang term for an increase in hourly wages.

pay bump (n.) – An informal term for a small but noticeable salary increase.

🚫 Antonyms

pay cut (n.) – A reduction in salary or wages.

salary freeze (n.) – A situation where salaries are not increased for a period.

📖 Cultural Story

The practice of giving a pay raise evolved during the Industrial Revolution as a formal reward for productivity. Today, it is a key part of performance evaluations and cost-of-living adjustments in modern workplaces.