the money that a person, a region, a country, etc. earns from work, from investing money, from business, etc. people with high/low incomes a weekly disposable income (= the money that you have left to spend after tax, food, housing, etc.) of $800 a rise in national income They receive a proportion of their income from the sale of goods and services. Tourism is a major source of income for the area. higher/middle/lower income groups compare expenditure Thesauruspoor
- disadvantaged
- needy
- low-income
- impoverished
- deprived
- penniless
- hard up
- poor having very little money; not having enough money for basic needs:They were too poor to buy shoes for the kids.
- disadvantaged having less money and fewer opportunities than most people in society:economically disadvantaged areas of the city
- needy poor:It's a charity that provides assistance to needy children.
- low-income having less money to live on than most people in society:Our agency helps low-income families pay their heating bills.
- impoverished (journalism) poor:Thousands of impoverished families in rural areas are desperate to move to the cities.
- deprived [usually before noun] without enough food, education, and all the things that are necessary for people to live a happy and comfortable life
- Poor is the most general of these words and can be used to describe yourself, another individual person, people as a group, or a country or an area. Needy is mostly used to describe people considered as a group. It is not used to talk about yourself or individual people:poor/needy/low-income children/families They were too needy to buy shoes for the kids.Low-income is a polite way to describe people who are poor. Impoverished is used, especially in journalism, to talk about poor countries and the people who live there. To talk about poor areas in rich countries, use deprived.
- penniless (literary) having no money; very poor:He died penniless in Paris.
- hard up (informal) having very little money, especially for a short period of time:I was always hard up as a student.
- poor/disadvantaged/needy/low-income/impoverished/deprived/penniless/hard-up people/families
- poor/disadvantaged/needy/low-income/impoverished/deprived areas
- poor/disadvantaged/low-income/impoverished countries
- a(n) poor/disadvantaged/impoverished/deprived background
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- pay
- salary
- wage/wages
- overtime
- earnings
- income money that a person receives for their work, or from investments or business:people on low incomes
- pay (often used in compounds) money that employees earn for doing their jobs:We all took pay cuts when sales figures fell. A large percentage of my paycheck goes towards health insurance for my family. The job offers good pay and benefits.
- salary a fixed amount of money that employees earn (usually per year) for doing their jobs:She was offered a starting salary of $33,000 per year. A person's salary does not change, no matter how many hours per week the person works.
- wage/wages (somewhat formal) money that a person receives for doing their job, usually calculated by the hour or by dividing an annual salary into a semi-monthly or monthly figure:By law, the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. I earned $1,700 in wages last month.
- Pay is the most general of these three words. The term wages is used in accounting to describe the amount of money someone earns before any taxes or other payments are taken away. Employees who work in offices or professional people, such as teachers or doctors, usually receive a salary that is paid once or twice a month, but is usually expressed as an annual figure.
- overtime money that a person earns for working more hours than they had originally agreed to work:She earned $500 in overtime by working the entire holiday weekend.
- earnings (business) money that a person earns for their work:The industry has seen a rise in average earnings over the past two years.
- (a) high/low/basic income/pay/salary/wage/earnings
- to earn an income/your pay/a salary/a wage/overtime
- to earn $.. in income/pay/salary/wages/overtime
- to live on/support a family on a(n) income/salary/hourly wage of…
Check pronunciation: income