nonworking
Americanadjective
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not employed for a salary, fees, or wages; not producing or generating income.
Our employee medical plan also covers nonworking spouses.
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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
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not engaged in payed employment
nonworking mothers
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(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.
For married couples, that could include contributing to a spousal IRA on behalf of the nonworking spouse or setting aside additional retirement savings with both partners’ futures in mind.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
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
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
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.
