unemployed

[ uhn-em-ploid ]

adjective

1. not employed; without a job; out of work:

   an unemployed secretary.

   Synonyms: jobless, idle, unoccupied, at liberty

2. not currently in use:

   unemployed productive capacity.

3. not productively used:

   unemployed capital.

noun

, (used with a plural verb)

1. people who do not have jobs:

   programs to help the unemployed.

unemployed

/ ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd /

adjective

1. 1. without remunerative employment; out of work
   2. ( as collective noun; preceded by the )

      the unemployed

2. not being used; idle

Word History and Origins

Origin of unemployed¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; un- ¹ + employ + -ed ²

Example Sentences

The idea that work requirements for Medicaid can have a measurable effect on joblessness is the product of another misconception, which is that most Medicaid recipients are the employable unemployed.

From Los Angeles Times

"We are facing a crisis of unemployment - for a population that's 2.4 million when you have almost 30% of those people unemployed, it is a crisis. It’s a ticking time bomb," he said.

From BBC

Tirzepatide became the subject of national debate recently when the UK government announced plans to roll it out to unemployed people to help them back into work.

From BBC

The Bonus Expeditionary Force, as the Bonus marchers called themselves, originated in Portland, Ore., with an unemployed ex-sergeant named Walter W. Waters as its commander.

From Los Angeles Times

There is not much research on the demographics of the unclaimed, but one 2020 study looking at trends in Los Angeles County found that they were more likely to be poor, unemployed, male and Black.

From Salon

Related Words

• idle
• inactive
• jobless
• underemployed

More About Unemployed

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.

Where does unemployed come from?

The first records of the word unemployed come from right around 1600. Its base word, employ, ultimately derives from the Latin implicāre, meaning “to engage” (the word engage is sometimes used to mean “to hire” or “to employ”).

When a person is unemployed, this usually means that they have lost a job without another one lined up. A person who has just quit or been laid off can be said to be recently unemployed, but unemployed often implies that the lack of employment has lasted a while. People who are unemployed are sometimes eligible for unemployment benefits, which are allowances of money paid to unemployed workers, such as by the government.

The similar term underemployed is used to describe a person who has a job, but is not working full-time or as many hours as they want to be.

The word unemployed should not be confused with the word unemployable, which most commonly means unsuitable for employment or unable to keep a job.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to unemployed?

• unemployment (noun)
• employed (adjective)
• unemployable (adjective)

What are some synonyms for unemployed?

• out of work
• unused

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

• employ
• employer
• employee
• underemployed

 

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

• job
• report
• benefit
• up
• down
• numbers
• work
• worker
• hire
• business
• company

How is unemployed used in real life?

Being unemployed is considered negative, but the term itself is typically used in a neutral way.

Seems like all the action was in temporary layoffs going back to work: “unemployed persons who were on temporary layoff decreased by 2.7 million in May to 15.3 million…the number of permanent job losers continued to rise, increasing by 295,000 in May to 2.3 million.”

— Matthew Zeitlin (@MattZeitlin) June 5, 2020

I’m currently unemployed, been unemployed for months. As much as I don’t want to leave Atlanta, I think I might have to, if I want to find a good job opportunity in my field.

— 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒍𝒂 💕 (@amariegonzalez_) June 5, 2020

Unemployment is 13.3 per cent. That is good news? Tell it to the unemployed.

— Tony Schwartz (@tonyschwartz) June 5, 2020

 

Try using unemployed!

Is unemployed used correctly in the following sentence?

Workers who are laid off in this industry are at risk of being unemployed for several months or longer.