unemployed
Americanadjective
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not employed; without a job; out of work.
an unemployed secretary.
- Synonyms:
- jobless, at liberty, idle, unoccupied
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not currently in use.
unemployed productive capacity.
-
not productively used.
unemployed capital.
noun
adjective
-
-
without remunerative employment; out of work
-
( as collective noun; preceded by the )
the unemployed
-
-
not being used; idle
Usage
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.
Etymology
Origin of unemployed
Explanation
If you're ready to work but can't find a job, you're unemployed. It can be a struggle for someone who's unemployed to pay their bills. People who lose their jobs are unemployed, at least until they find another one. Most governments have programs to support unemployed people as they search for work. To be employed means to have a paying job, but before the 17th century this word simply meant "be busy devoting yourself to something," and unemployed was used for people who weren't occupied with activities, but were enjoying some leisure time.
Vocabulary lists containing unemployed
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet in their rush to destroy the old guard, Weiss and Ellison have overlooked the fact that they left behind an elite corps of unemployed, highly motivated investigative journalists with nothing left to lose.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
The July jobs report showed it took unemployed Americans almost 25 weeks on average to find their next job.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Changing the way children are taught might help ensure they are "not left unemployed and sectors that need people are not left underemployed".
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
The draft rules would require more documentation from parents who are homeless or unemployed, the people familiar with the deliberations told the Associated Press.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
All kinds of professions now crowded in together, foundry workers and lawyers, maids and carpenters, doctors and hoodlums, but most people, this being 1932, were unemployed.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
