Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

unskilled

American  
[uhn-skild] / ʌnˈskɪld /

adjective

  1. of or relating to workers who lack technical training or skill.

  2. not demanding special training or skill.

    unskilled occupations.

  3. exhibiting a marked lack of skill or competence.

    an unskilled painting; an unskilled writer.

  4. not skilled skill skilled or expert.

    He was unskilled in the art of rhetoric.
unskilled British  
/ ʌnˈskɪld /

adjective

  1. not having or requiring any special skill or training

    unskilled workers

    an unskilled job

  2. having or displaying no skill; inexpert

    he is quite unskilled at dancing
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of unskilled

First recorded in 1575–85; un- 1 + skilled

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.

Wages of unskilled workers would drop and unemployment would rise, he told them.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

CareScout’s estimate for paid home care is based on 44 hours a week of unskilled care.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 4, 2026

The Knights of Labor, founded in 1869, became the first mass labor organization, welcoming all “producers”: skilled and unskilled, Black and white, men and women.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025

The H-2B visa program allows employers to import unskilled workers from abroad for temporary jobs if no qualified U.S. workers want the jobs.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 28, 2024

They hired more than thirty-five thousand unskilled African Americans and Mexicans to work in the mills.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

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.