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

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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

My new co-workers were newspaper veterans, led by our editor in chief, David Talbot, and until recently employed by the city’s now extinct evening newspaper.

From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2026

In recent games, Kovac has employed Bellingham in a more advanced role, as one of the two number 10s behind the striker.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

Much like in East Germany and other parts of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc during the Cold War, authorities employed an extensive network of informants to monitor public sentiment.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

Someone in the area can be heard using whistles, a tool that some activists have employed to alert people when ICE is in the area.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

The German nurse whom Dad had employed was scornful.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

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Related Words

• engaged
• hired
• occupied

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