Showing results for "employed"

• past participle of employ.
• past tense form of employ.

employed

American  

[em-ploid] / ɛmˈplɔɪd /

adjective

1. 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.

2. applied or used; made use of.

   In the study, drilling with flashcards was the least frequently employed strategy for language learning.

3. kept busy or engaged with some work or activity.

   I never feel usefully employed in science except when I'm actually gathering data.

4. (of time, energies, etc.) occupied; devoted to some pursuit.

   Working on my quilt gave me many happily employed hours.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of employ.

Other Word Forms

• de-employed
  adjective
• well-employed
  adjective

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

This includes people employed in construction and agriculture as well as those who work in indoor environments with radiant heat and no air conditioning, such as pizza kitchens.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 30, 2026

“There are also other methods that could be employed — potentially a deodorizer, they could be applied on top of the debris to keep the smell down,” Silverman said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026

CoinEx began to build a presence within Iran in the years after its launch and has at times employed business-development managers in the country to recruit users, according to former employees.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026

Specifically, Bier noted that there is a substantial number of Haitian immigrants who are employed in healthcare, including in elder care.

From Barron's • Jun. 25, 2026

The Earthworm, with his lovely pink skin, was employed by a company that made women’s face creams to speak commercials on television.

From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl

Related Words

• engaged
• hired
• occupied