adjective
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having given up one's work, office, etc, esp on completion of the normal period of service
a retired headmistress
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( as collective noun ; preceded by the )
the retired
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withdrawn; secluded
a retired life
a retired cottage in the woods
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of retired
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 To retire means "to stop working," but also "to retreat or withdraw," and in the 1500s, retired meant "separated or withdrawn from society."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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Maybe it was just a product of its time, but boy, I will tell you straight up, I would cheerfully have retired on that show,” Brantley says.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
A retired salesman once told me that sales is like fishing — you wait patiently for the right moment.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
Philippe Briggs, a recently retired Los Angeles police detective and former Army reservist, said he paid $25,000 for the 99-year lease on his windowless bunker six or seven years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
Kimi Antonelli extended his lead in the drivers' championship after Mercedes team-mate George Russell retired from the Canadian Grand Prix.
From BBC • May 26, 2026
I now ventured to descend: it was deep dusk; I retired into a corner and sat down on the floor.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
