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

The overall group employed 13,844 people at the end of 2025, including around 500 people at the Garden Grove facility that manufactures “transparencies,” which are airplane windows.

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

All three committee members who are employed by the RBNZ, including Governor Anna Breman, voted to keep rates unchanged.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

In New York, for instance, infants under 15 days old may not be employed as child performers.

From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026

It is the latest case in a year-long scandal that has shaken the school system in the French capital, where some 15,000 such assistants - known as animateurs - are employed as non-teaching staff.

From BBC • May 25, 2026

“You and I have never employed them, and therefore scandal has prevailed against us.”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Related Words

• engaged
• hired
• occupied