nonworking
Americanadjective
-
not employed for a salary, fees, or wages; not producing or generating income.
Our employee medical plan also covers nonworking spouses.
-
not involved in or deriving from labor; not engaged in or directed toward work, especially as an employee.
What are some of your nonworking activities?
-
not functioning or operating.
a nonworking coffee grinder.
adjective
-
not engaged in payed employment
nonworking mothers
-
(of machinery, technology, etc) not operating properly or effectively
nonworking telephones
Etymology
Origin of nonworking
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.
In 1975 a second income often sat in reserve—a nonworking parent who could enter the labor force if needed.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
For example, photos included in the indictment show the use of a hair dryer to move serial numbers to boxes of nonworking, replicated dummy servers in an attempt to mislead the U.S.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 21, 2026
Today, the average nonworking man spends 520 hours a year on “recreational computer time,” most of it video games.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 9, 2025
A change in the 2021 International Fire Code, for example, required that midsize construction sites employ a “fire watch” during nonworking hours.
From Slate • Feb. 28, 2025
Their nonworking lives completely revolved around the Net, trading MP3s, finding software, getting their hands on new games, trying out new operating systems.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
