# dues

/ˈduz/ (US) · /djˈuːz/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/dues
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. membership fees

noun · CEFR B2

the regular payments you make to belong to a club, union, or professional group.

For teachers: regularly scheduled payments required for membership in an organisation, such as a trade union or professional association.

- If you don't pay your annual dues by January, you might lose your membership.
- The union representative reminded the workers that their monthly dues funded the legal team currently negotiating the new contract.

### 2. earned respect or status

noun · CEFR B2 · Informal

the hard work or difficult experiences you go through to earn success or respect.

For teachers: the effort, hardship, or experience considered necessary to earn a particular status or level of success; often used in the phrase 'pay one's dues'.

- She spent years working in small offices to pay her dues before becoming a manager.
- Having paid his dues in the minor leagues for nearly a decade, the veteran player was finally called up to the national team.

Usage: Commonly occurs in the fixed idiom 'pay one's dues'.

## Examples

- I need to pay my monthly club dues by Friday.
- After years of playing in small, empty bars, the band finally paid their dues and signed a major record deal.
- The union representative reminded the members that their annual dues funded the legal protections and collective bargaining efforts that benefited the entire workforce.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.