Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Unemployed

Unˊem-ployed′

,
Adj.
1.
Not employed in manual or other labor; having no regular work.
2.
Not invested or used;
as,
unemployed
capital
.
3.
(Economics)
actively seeking employment but unable to find a suitable job.

Webster 1828 Edition


Unemployed

UNEMPLOY'ED

,
Adj.
1.
Not employed; not occupied; not busy; at leisure; not engaged.
2.
Not being in use; as unemployed capital or money.

Definition 2024


unemployed

unemployed

English

Adjective

unemployed (not comparable)

  1. Having no job despite being able and willing to work.
  2. Having no use, not doing work
    • 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport:
      England's attacking impetus was limited to one shot from Lampard that was comfortably collected by keeper Iker Casillas, but for all Spain's domination of the ball his England counterpart Joe Hart was unemployed.

Synonyms

Translations

Related terms

Noun

unemployed pl (plural only)

  1. Unemployed people.
    The unemployed are a growing portion of the population.

Usage notes

  • This is not a true noun. It is an example of a "fused-head" construction in which an adjective (or possessive or determiner) is assumed to have fused with an omitted noun which is grammatically required.

Synonyms

Translations