unemployed

[uhn-em-ploid]

adjective

1. not employed; without a job; out of work.

   an unemployed secretary.

   Synonyms: jobless, at liberty, idle, unoccupied

2. not currently in use.

   unemployed productive capacity.

3. not productively used.

   unemployed capital.

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. people who do not have jobs.

   programs to help the unemployed.

unemployed

/ ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd /

adjective

1. 1. without remunerative employment; out of work

   2. ( as collective noun; preceded by the )

      the unemployed

2. not being used; idle

Word History and Origins

Origin of unemployed¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; un- ¹ + employ + -ed ²

Example Sentences

Telling people I lost my job is painful, not because I’m embarrassed to be unemployed, but because it means that there will be fewer WBCs in L.A. schools, staffed with fewer trusted adults.

From Los Angeles Times

Defendants find themselves both unemployed and unemployable, blacklisted, bankrupt and broken.

From Salon

New Leeds keeper Lucas Perri was given a comfortable introduction as Everton left him virtually unemployed apart from one low shot from Carlos Alcaraz in the closing stages, which he saved comfortably.

From BBC

Online, young women even joke that the surest way to a second date is to pretend to be unemployed.

From Salon

The latest chapter in the train horn saga took place Wednesday when Los Angeles police arrested Gary Boyadzhyan, 50, an unemployed car technician, who set off the horn after previously promising to keep it silent.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• idle 
• inactive 
• jobless 
• underemployed 

When To Use

What does unemployed mean?

Unemployed means not having a paid job—not being employed.A person who’s described as unemployed is typically out of work and looking for a job. A person who’s retired, for example, wouldn’t be said to be unemployed.Unemployed is sometimes used to refer to unemployed people collectively, as in These programs are intended to help the unemployed. The state of being unemployed is unemployment. The opposite of this is employment.The verb employ also means to use, and unemployed can be used to mean unused, as in We shouldn’t let these resources go unemployed. Example: I was unemployed for a long time before I was recruited in Greenland by someone who finally saw my strengths.