retired

American  

[ri-tahyuhrd] / rɪˈtaɪərd /

adjective

1. withdrawn from or no longer occupied with one's business or profession.

   a retired banker.

2. due or given a retired person.

   retired pay.

3. secluded or sequestered.

   a retired little village.

   Synonyms:

   solitary, removed, isolated

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retired British  

/ rɪˈtaɪəd /

adjective

1. 1. having given up one's work, office, etc, esp on completion of the normal period of service

      a retired headmistress

   2. ( as collective noun ; preceded by the )

      the retired

2. withdrawn; secluded

   a retired life

   a retired cottage in the woods

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Other Word Forms

• nonretired adjective
• quasi-retired adjective
• retiredly adverb
• retiredness noun
• self-retired adjective
• semiretired adjective
• unretired adjective

Etymology

Origin of retired

First recorded in 1580–90; retire + -ed ²

Explanation

Someone who's retired has stopped working permanently. A retired teacher who misses his job might volunteer at an after-school program. Most retired people in the U.S. are over the age of 65, although some are able to retire earlier, and some continue working well into their 70s or 80s. Some jobs provide pensions, or partial salaries, to retired workers, and other retired people take advantage of government-provided benefits like Social Security. To retire means "to stop working," but also "to retreat or withdraw," and in the 1500s, retired meant "separated or withdrawn from society."

Example Sentences

He could have retired in 2020, but as he wrote in a Facebook post in 2023, “I’m having too much fun.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

The retired tennis star’s new show, “Pretty Tough,” focuses on interviews with powerful women.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

The retired nurse, who lives on Attleboro Lane, claimed vibrations caused by heavy machinery had damaged their property: "It's destroyed our home, I'm embarrassed about home, it's falling apart."

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026

“They’re not retired yet, but they’re facing this retirement problem,” Duffy said.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

Once, no doubt, they were heroes, but now they have retired from battlefields and they see things from a different point of view.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Related Words

• elderly
• resigned