unemployed

adjective

un·​em·​ployed ˌən-im-ˈplȯid 

: not employed:

a

: not being used

unemployed machines

b

: not engaged in a gainful occupation

an unemployed teacher seeking work

15% of the workforce was unemployed.

c

: not invested

unemployed capital

unemployed noun

Synonyms of unemployed

• out of work
• jobless

Examples of unemployed in a Sentence

the plant closings left a significant portion of the town's population unemployed

Recent Examples on the Web

Over the month the labor force grew by 17,000, the same as the number of people qualified as unemployed. —Jim Turner, Sun Sentinel, 17 Apr. 2026

Casting has not yet been announced for the musical, in which six unemployed steel workers decide to make money by creating their own male strip show. —Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 16 Apr. 2026

But now with factories, energy facilities, bridges and railways destroyed—leaving many Iranians unemployed—conditions have gotten worse. —Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2026

In one panel, children maimed or exhausted by labor stare out bleakly; in another, unemployed men in a small industrial town sit or stand around. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing unemployed

• the unemployed

Rhymes for unemployed

• albuminoid
• arytenoid
• cannabinoid
• carotenoid
• epidermoid
• epithelioid
• meteoroid
• paraboloid
• subarachnoid
• underemployed
• adenoid
• alkaloid

Kids Definition

unemployed

adjective

un·​em·​ployed ˌən-im-ˈplȯid 

1

: not being used

unemployed tools

2

: not employed : having no job

unemployed workers

unemployed noun