employed, functioning, or working less than the customary or requisite number of hours.
They had only enough money to hire a part-time clerk.
lasting, requiring, or being in force only a part of the time.
part-time employment;
part-time jobs.
First recorded in 1890–95
First recorded in 1890–95; adjective, adverb use of part time
Anything that's part-time is done less often than is typical or average. If you're sick of working full-time hours, try working part-time. Part-time works as an adjective or an adverb, to describe things that don't take up as much time as you might expect, just part of a day or part of a week. If you're a part-time bus driver, you might do it twenty hours each week, in between classes. You could also call yourself a part-time student, or say that you study sociology part-time.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She also works part time with a government agency providing therapy services for children, but the work isn’t steady, especially during the summer when school is out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
At age 71, MaryClare Feighan still works part time as she cares for her husband Jude, 77, who has been on disability for 15 years.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 16, 2026
“Tourism has fallen off a cliff,” said Christopher Baker, a British author and tour guide who lives part time in Cuba.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
On his LinkedIn page, the man widely expected to be the BBC's new Director General describes himself as a "gap year student, part time athlete".
From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2026
They are going to pay me evry week like for a part time job because that was part of the arraingment when they got the mony from the Welberg foundashun.
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
By September 1963, Dad was on tour with the Highwaymen and mom took a part-time job working for a magazine’s circulation department.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
During the ‘60s and ‘70s, she took on a series of part-time jobs to provide for her children, designing costumes at a cultural center and teaching at area art schools.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Among them was 18-year-old Harshvardhan Kadam, who took a part-time job selling laptops after finishing school to help support his mother following his father's death last year.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
She could contribute through scholarships, part-time work and college loans — or she could opt for a less expensive school.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
And, honestly, Mom is not completely back to the way she was, but she’s going to therapy twice a week, and she even started working again, part-time.
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
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.
