underemployed

adjective

un·​der·​em·​ployed ˌən-dər-im-ˈplȯid How to pronounce underemployed (audio)
: having less than full-time, regular, or adequate employment

Examples of underemployed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Even underemployed graduates, 52% work in roles not requiring degrees, prefer retail or office jobs over dirty work, despite lower pay. Jack Kelly, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025 These jobs exist in Boston’s core and provide a clear path to the middle class for those unemployed, underemployed workers, veterans, and or union workers looking to upgrade their skills, and those with employment challenges such as CORIs. Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 9 Mar. 2024 The education system’s college-for-all model is overproducing underemployed knowledge workers. Oren Cass, Foreign Affairs, 16 Jan. 2025 His verdict was not unique to underemployed freelance writers in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn. Matthew Karp, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for underemployed

Word History

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of underemployed was in 1908

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Cite this Entry

“Underemployed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/underemployed. Accessed 20 May. 2025.

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