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 fen fed, housed, and employed the people around it and Fen Cottage stands as evidence of that vital relationship between the people and the land," Calladine added.

From BBC • May 13, 2026

At the same time, tens of thousands of draft evaders are either not working or employed off-the-books.

From Barron's • May 13, 2026

A spokesperson for Kern County told NBC Los Angeles that Wells was employed by the Kern County Fire Department in 2004 and that he is still a fire captain.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026

He attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for undergrad and continued at its College of Law, working summers in the boxcar factory where his father was employed.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 10, 2026

He realized he knew the man: Patrick Prendergast, a newspaper distributor employed by the Inter Ocean.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• engaged
• hired
• occupied