unskilled
Americanadjective
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of or relating to workers who lack technical training or skill.
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not demanding special training or skill.
unskilled occupations.
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exhibiting a marked lack of skill or competence.
an unskilled painting; an unskilled writer.
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not skilled or expert.
He was unskilled in the art of rhetoric.
adjective
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not having or requiring any special skill or training
unskilled workers
an unskilled job
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having or displaying no skill; inexpert
he is quite unskilled at dancing
Etymology
Origin of unskilled
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
So many unskilled Americans descended on the U.S.S.R. that by 1938 the Soviets started requiring U.S. visitors to show proof of return travel.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 26, 2026
Investigators said there were a number of safety issues at the plant, including a failure to address quality defects in batteries and hiring unskilled staff to handle dangerous materials.
From BBC • Aug. 29, 2024
Jobs can be found in the suburbs—mostly service sector jobs—but employment for unskilled men with criminal convictions, while difficult to find anywhere, is especially hard to find close to home.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
