Showing results for "employed"

• past tense form of employ.
• past participle 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

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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

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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

See Examples For:

employed

FBI officials say the funds are used to bankroll its “rogue regime and illicit weapons program through cryptocurrency theft” and the videos are employed to impersonate and target more victims.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2026

Musk, the world's richest person, has already revolutionized the space sector with the partially reusable Falcon rockets, which are regularly employed to launch satellites and carry astronauts to the International Space Station.

From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2026

In that sense, American impeachments have never been employed as the equivalent of the motions of no-confidence employed by parliamentary governments to remove government ministers.

From Slate ● Nov. 10, 2026

There are more than 550,000 people employed across the Civil Service, many in offices in Whitehall, in central London.

From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026

“Yes, my parents are employed at the music conservatory. My sister went to America. I’m desperate to join her.”

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

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Related Words

• engaged
• hired
• occupied

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