NEET

American

[neet] / nit /

noun

plural

NEETs

Not in Education, Employment, or Training: a young person who is not working, studying, or receiving vocational training.

NEET British

/ niːt, niːt /

acronym

(in Britain) not in employment, education, or training: a person so described

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of NEET

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They are not considered to be Neet if they are in formal education, such as school or university, doing an apprenticeship or vocational course, or in full-time or part-time work.

From BBC

There were 946,000 young people who were Neet in the UK in the period from July to September 2025.

From BBC

Historically, more women than men have been Neet.

From BBC

But in recent years that trend has reversed, and the ONS says a young man is more likely to be Neet than a young woman.

From BBC

Outside of this age group, however, the Youth Futures Foundation found that Black, Black Caribbean and Black African young people had a higher Neet rate than the UK average.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023