unemployed
Americanadjective
-
not employed; without a job; out of work.
an unemployed secretary.
- Synonyms:
- jobless, at liberty, idle, unoccupied
-
not currently in use.
unemployed productive capacity.
-
not productively used.
unemployed capital.
noun
adjective
-
-
without remunerative employment; out of work
-
( as collective noun; preceded by the )
the unemployed
-
-
not being used; idle
Usage
What does unemployed mean? Unemployed means not having a paid job—not being employed. A person who’s described as unemployed is typically out of work and looking for a job. A person who’s retired, for example, wouldn’t be said to be unemployed. Unemployed is sometimes used to refer to unemployed people collectively, as in These programs are intended to help the unemployed. The state of being unemployed is unemployment. The opposite of this is employment. The verb employ also means to use, and unemployed can be used to mean unused, as in We shouldn’t let these resources go unemployed. Example: I was unemployed for a long time before I was recruited in Greenland by someone who finally saw my strengths.
Etymology
Origin of unemployed
Explanation
If you're ready to work but can't find a job, you're unemployed. It can be a struggle for someone who's unemployed to pay their bills. People who lose their jobs are unemployed, at least until they find another one. Most governments have programs to support unemployed people as they search for work. To be employed means to have a paying job, but before the 17th century this word simply meant "be busy devoting yourself to something," and unemployed was used for people who weren't occupied with activities, but were enjoying some leisure time.
Vocabulary lists containing unemployed
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.
He has not been identified and was unemployed, Barrett said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
For much of the past year, more than a quarter of unemployed people have been without a job for at least six months, federal data shows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
Yet in their rush to destroy the old guard, Weiss and Ellison have overlooked the fact that they left behind an elite corps of unemployed, highly motivated investigative journalists with nothing left to lose.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Around one-quarter of unemployed job seekers have been on the hunt for at least half a year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Throughout the spring of 1893 the streets of Chicago filled with unemployed men from elsewhere, but otherwise the city seemed immune to the nation’s financial troubles.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
