worker

noun

work·​er ˈwər-kər 

1

a

: one that works especially at manual or industrial labor or with a particular material

a factory worker

—often used in combination

b

: a member of the working class

2

: any of the sexually underdeveloped and usually sterile members of a colony of social ants, bees, wasps, or termites that perform most of the labor and protective duties of the colony

Synonyms

• laborer
• slave

Examples of worker in a Sentence

The company is planning to hire 200 workers.

The average worker earned $1,000 more this year.

If management doesn't make the changes, the workers will go on strike.

They are both hard workers.

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead the Anjanette Young ordinance, named after the Black social worker who police handcuffed and left naked in her home while serving a warrant at the wrong address, will require cops to wait 30 seconds before entry. —Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2025

For example, cybersecurity experts say that North Korean IT workers use deepfaked identities to get jobs at leading tech firms and funnel earnings back to the isolated country. —Lionel Lim, Fortune, 13 Aug. 2025

Construction workers on a condo tower on February 10, 2025, in Miami. —Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025

Deployments have been used to enforce civil rights, quell urban violence, and, once, even to fill in for striking postal workers. —Ramon Padilla, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing worker

• care worker
• co-worker
• day worker
• gig worker
• guest worker
• sex worker
• voluntary worker
• wonder-worker
• worker-priest

Rhymes for worker

• caseworker
• coworker
• farmworker
• woodworker

Kids Definition

worker

noun

work·​er ˈwər-kər 

1

a

: one that works

b

: a member of the working class

2

: one of the members of a colony of social ants, bees, wasps, or termites that are only partially developed sexually and that perform most of the labor and protective duties of the colony