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.
Her first act as a nonworking person: a solo trip to Scotland, where she took a darning workshop and learned how to repair sweaters.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 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
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
Employment contracts would have to clearly outline working and nonworking hours.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2024
It’s the nonworking brains that get blocked, that have dead ends, that are under construction like mine.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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.
