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Showing results for unskilled. Search instead for unspilled.
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.

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

H-2B visas allow unskilled workers like gardeners and housekeepers to work in the U.S. for 10 months, while the H-1B program lets skilled workers like software engineers remain for up to three years.

From Salon • Dec. 29, 2024

The second way, Mr Sundar said, is by hiring young, unskilled workers, especially from rural areas, by attracting them with a good starting salary.

From BBC • Sep. 18, 2024

In 1950, nearly three in five black women in Montgomery, Alabama’s capital city, worked as maids for white families, and almost three-quarters of employed black men mowed lawns and did other kinds of unskilled labor.

From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose

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.