"pay rise" means: An increase in salary or wages.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
pay rise
(UK, Ireland, Australia, rest of Commonwealth, sometimes, Canada) An increase in salary or wages.
Seen in the wild
Rasmus Hojlund set for pay rise after Man United transfer as early deal 'agreed' for move www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/footba...
You gave them a pay rise, after cutting the winter fuel for pensioners.
Marco Rubio is giving a press briefing and, while trying to pick a reporter to ask a question, he said, "This is chaos!" An unidentified voice immediately said, "Welcome to the White House." Give that person a pay r…
Badenoch is so full of shit. Accusing Starmer of 'splurging' money on welfare (really?) and giving money to the unions (the unions being millions of public sector workers who got a mediocre pay rise after years of pr…
📢 Teaching staff at Windsor Forest Colleges Group will walk out tomorrow for the third time this year over a 'derisory' low pay rise offer of 1.7 per cent https://feweek.co.uk/windsor-college-staff-storm-out-over-p…
Definitions
(UK, Ireland, Australia, rest of Commonwealth, sometimes, Canada) An increase in salary or wages.
"pay rise" means: An increase in salary or wages.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
"pay rise" means: An increase in salary or wages.. Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. Note the regional or dialect label (UK) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
“Rasmus Hojlund set for pay rise after Man United transfer as early deal 'agreed' for move www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/footba...”
— Bluesky· May 2026“You gave them a pay rise, after cutting the winter fuel for pensioners.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Marco Rubio is giving a press briefing and, while trying to pick a reporter to ask a question, he said, "This is chaos!" An unidentified voice immediately said, "Welcome to the White House." Give that person a pay rise.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Badenoch is so full of shit. Accusing Starmer of 'splurging' money on welfare (really?) and giving money to the unions (the unions being millions of public sector workers who got a mediocre pay rise after years of pretty much nothing).”
— Bluesky· May 2026“📢 Teaching staff at Windsor Forest Colleges Group will walk out tomorrow for the third time this year over a 'derisory' low pay rise offer of 1.7 per cent https://feweek.co.uk/windsor-college-staff-storm-out-over-pay-again/”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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Semantically related
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(Australia, NZ) A wage adjustment or an improvement in working conditions made as a consequence of one already made in a similar or related occupation.
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(UK, Irish, Commonwealth) An envelope or similar package in which a salary is given to a worker.
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(intransitive, Australia, colloquial) To pay a higher price than might be expected or considered reasonable.
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(idiomatic) Of a job or profession, to provide enough income for someone to afford a place to live.
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The act of something that rises.