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

See Examples For:

employed

Artificial intelligence cams are now employed to catch bike lane violators in Santa Monica.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

So if you’re in that range, it would be helpful to specify to your audience whether you are employed, because it would greatly change the dynamics.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

The method of identifying suspicious accounts United have employed uses third-party software and is largely automated.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

The first, a subscription-based furniture rental company he started in 2017, employed around 150 staff at its peak before he sold it in 2022.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

The FTP employed nearly fifteen thousand writers, actors, directors, designers, and stage technicians.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

Related Words

• engaged
• hired
• occupied