Standard Lemma guide

salaryman

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈsæl.əɹ.i.mæn/
  • rhymes with -æn

1

noun

Meaning 1

An employee, a worker; now especially a Japanese white-collar worker who works long hours yet has an insignificant position within the corporate hierarchy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Phono-semantic matching of Japanese サラリーマン (sararīman), itself a wasei eigo (和製英語; pseudo-anglicism) derived from salary + man.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: toimihenkilö — a salaried worker in Japan or South Korea
  • Finnish: salaryman — a salaried worker in Japan or South Korea
  • French: salaryman — a salaried worker in Japan or South Korea
  • German: Salaryman — a salaried worker in Japan or South Korea
  • Japanese: サラリーマン (sararīman) — a salaried worker in Japan or South Korea
  • Korean: 샐러리맨 (saelleorimaen) — a salaried worker in Japan or South Korea
  • Russian: сарарима́н (sararimán) — a salaried worker in Japan or South Korea