employed
Americanadjective
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given employment, or paid work; hired, especially permanently by inclusion on a payroll.
The comedy revolves around a beauty salon owner and her newly employed male stylist.
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applied or used; made use of.
In the study, drilling with flashcards was the least frequently employed strategy for language learning.
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kept busy or engaged with some work or activity.
I never feel usefully employed in science except when I'm actually gathering data.
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(of time, energies, etc.) occupied; devoted to some pursuit.
Working on my quilt gave me many happily employed hours.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of employed
First recorded in 1560–70; employ ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; employ ( def. ) + -ed 1 ( def. ) for the verb sense
Explanation
Someone who's employed has a job or is busy with something. Some people believe that employed teenagers get themselves in less trouble than those without jobs. If you're working, you're employed. Most employed people work traditional full-time jobs, although an increasing number of them are freelancers or have part-time positions. Another way to use this adjective is to mean "used," as when you say, "The employed methods for keeping the classroom calm seem a little extreme to me." The adjective employed comes from the related verb, employ, "use, apply, occupy, or hire."
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.
"These capabilities can be employed for offensive and defensive purposes," it added.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
They were simply following other orders, though they also employed methods that had been encouraged in the course of their training.
From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2026
A baseball grandstand burned down last year, and in March, a lumber mill that employed about 30 people caught fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Apple employed both software and hardware techniques to camouflage the crease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
Along with washing our bodies, they were employed for cleaning all types of objects.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
