LAYOFFS Synonyms: 38 Similar and Opposite Words

layoffs

noun

plural of layoff

as in dismissals

the termination of the employment of an employee or a work force often temporarily even senior employees lost their jobs in the massive layoff

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in winters

a period of often involuntary inactivity or idleness after such a long layoff the boxer badly needed to get back into shape

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of layoffs While Apple’s layoffs are uncommon and relatively small, other companies have laid off tens of thousands of employees in the last year. — Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026 The layoffs come as Ellison has been quietly rebuilding her business after several years of near-dormancy. — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026 The move was not unexpected after the upstart tour filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice last month—a legal requirement to notify workers of potential layoffs. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 26 Aug. 2026 That expansion was followed by layoffs, with the remaining team reportedly reduced to personnel handling the project’s closure, supplier settlements, and corporate deregistration. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 26 Aug. 2026 Banijay is closing All3Media International’s New York office, a move that will see a new round of layoffs following its mega-merger with the British production group. — Peter White, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026 Meta confirmed to Reuters that the plan, reportedly codenamed Project OT (short for organization transformation), explored scenarios in which Meta reduced some team headcounts by 60 percent and that the plan called for two rounds of layoffs. — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 26 Aug. 2026 With the county projected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, the officials are raising concerns about county employee layoffs, service cuts and the potential for rents to increase. — Abigail Hasebroock, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2026 Under pressure from prediction markets, the betting site has seen its share price fall 44% in the past year and has endured significant layoffs. — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for layoffs

Noun

The dismissals varied but building a middle order capable of withstanding a spin barrage in helpful conditions is fundamental to England’s ambitions overseas.

— Ben Jones, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026
The allegations against Tran have led to other murder convictions being overturned, dismissals and relatively lenient plea deals in other cases.

— Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of dismissals

Noun

The average annual snowfall is 200 inches, but for the mild winters, Sun Valley is home to the largest snow making system in the world, covering 630 acres on Bald and Dollar mountains.

— Harllie Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, 26 Aug. 2026
People have flocked there from California, Washington and Oregon, taking advantage of Boise's lower cost of living, relatively mild winters, and lively outdoor scene.

— CJ Haddad,Katie Tarasov, CNBC, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of winters

Noun

The mass firings at the CDC in early 2025 gutted the team studying TBI, right before it was expected to launch a nationwide concussion surveillance system.

— Lydia McFarlane, NPR, 25 Aug. 2026
One person involved in the effort told me that the firings had been carried out because of an evolution in the business at Fannie and not for any ideological reason.

— Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of firings

Noun

These trends often materialize in batch changeovers, supplier changes, line downtimes and traceability challenges.

— Ihor Yurchenko, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
The average response time for phone calls dropped to 6 minutes from 30 minutes in the prior fiscal year; field office wait times decreased to 23 minutes; and removal of online service downtimes has benefited an additional 125,000 users in a single week, according to the agency's findings.

— Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025

Definition of downtimes

Noun

The district could be forced into hiring freezes, spending restrictions, furloughs, program reductions or massive midyear layoffs after students have already formed relationships with their teachers and support staff.

— Angel Gutierrez, Chicago Tribune, 3 Aug. 2026
Police, firefighters, paramedics, and 911 employees are exempt from the furloughs.

— Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 30 June 2026

Definition of furloughs

Noun

At their worst, defensive secondary lapses and occasional offensive lulls kept opponents in games longer than necessary.

— David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Parties have exploited lulls in fighting to buy time, rebuild capabilities and consolidate political or territorial gains ahead of the next round of conflict.

— Anthony Wanis-St John, The Conversation, 10 July 2026

Definition of lulls

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lay off (of)

layoffs

lay on

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“Layoffs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/layoffs. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of layoffs

noun

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