unemployable

[ uhn-em-ploi-uh-buhl ]

adjective

1. unsuitable for employment; unable to find or keep a job.

noun

1. an unemployable individual.

unemployable

/ ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪəbəl /

adjective

1. unable or unfit to keep a job

Derived Forms

• ˌunemˌployaˈbility, noun

Other Words From

• unem·ploya·bili·ty noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unemployable¹

First recorded in 1885–90; un- ¹ + employable

Example Sentences

When they do leave prison, these men are largely unemployable and ineligible to vote, and often end up back in the system.

From The Daily Beast

Our mission is simple: to make you think that without us you are unemployable.

From The Daily Beast

The end result is that you can end up with a large group of people who are functionally unemployable.

From The Daily Beast

Her association with the royal family has made her virtually unemployable in any normal job.

From The Daily Beast

Viagra provides financial security to hundreds of otherwise largely unemployable women.

From The Daily Beast

Small wonder that some of them descend to a lower grade and in addition to being unemployed, become unemployable.

From Project Gutenberg

Many drift with other groups of human wastage to the unemployed, thence to the unemployable, and so to the gutter and the grave.

From Project Gutenberg

The oligarch can be unemployable, because he will not be employed.

From Project Gutenberg

He thus passes from the unemployed state to the unemployable state.

From Project Gutenberg

Every one suffers, every one has to pay for the maintenance of the Unemployable.

From Project Gutenberg

More About Unemployable

What does unemployable mean?

Unemployable most commonly means unsuitable for employment or unable to keep a job.

The word employable generally means available and able to be hired for a job, especially for long-term employment, but usually also implies that a person is a desirable candidate for a job. Unemployable is the opposite of this.

When a person is described as unemployable, it’s usually a very negative and often insulting statement about how they’re not fit to hold a job in any way.

However, unemployable can also be used in a neutral way that means they’re not able to be hired for some reason, such as legal status or a lack of positions.

Example: Most employers consider convicted felons unemployable, but we give people a second chance.

Where does unemployable come from?

The first records of the word unemployable come from the late 1800s. It’s formed from the prefix un-, meaning “not,” and the word employable, which is first recorded around the 1600s. Its base word, the verb employ, derives from the Latin implicāre, meaning “to engage.”

When companies search for employees, they narrow the field to employable candidates. In the most basic sense, this often means people who are legally able to hold that job. But the most employable candidates are those who fit—or exceed—all the qualifications the company is seeking. Describing someone as unemployable is the opposite of this. It usually implies that not only is a person not fit for a specific job, they’re not fit for any job.

Unemployable should not be confused with the word unemployed, which describes someone who doesn’t have a job.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to unemployable?

• employ (verb)
• employable (adjective)
• unemployability (noun)

What are some words that share a root or word element with unemployable? 

• unemployed
• employer
• employee
• employment
• self-employed
• underemployed

What are some words that often get used in discussing unemployable?

 

• hire
• worker
• candidate
• job
• job seeker
• business
• company

How is unemployable used in real life?

Unemployable is most commonly used in a negative way.

They are huge advocates & fundraisers for criminal justice & prison reform & source ingredients from a bakery that hires ex-convicts, homeless, and addicts – populations that are disproportionately brown and black. They are also committed to hiring those considered “unemployable”

— Paige Steele (@paigeashleyyy) June 4, 2020

Next step: render them unemployable in any enforcement capacity, including mall cop. https://t.co/NcVzXdxbS3

— Puma Thurman (@AtlantaAndAlaia) May 31, 2020

"First become an engineer and then figure out what to do with your life."

How India became a leading producer of unemployable engineers https://t.co/anr43nbn9A — by @NilChristopher

— Anup Kaphle (@AnupKaphle) May 12, 2020

 

 

Try using unemployable!

Is unemployable used correctly in the following sentence?

Even though he was cleared of the charges, the stigma surrounding the case made him unemployable.