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

Example Sentences

And with layoffs on the rise, it doesn’t necessarily take a decree for workers to understand that spending more time in the office could be a key to staying employed.

From The Wall Street Journal

"At its peak, it was well in excess of 700 people employed here," he said.

From BBC

To solve it, she has employed a full-time worker whose main job is culling deer.

From BBC

Those visas offer a pathway to citizenship for Afghans who were employed by the U.S. government or its private contractors.

From Los Angeles Times

Saadaoui successfully applied for a work visa and the couple moved to Clacton-on Sea, Essex, where he worked in the town's Haven Holiday Village and was employed in its shops, bakery and arcade.

From BBC

Related Words

• engaged
• hired
• occupied