Standard Lemma guide

NEET

name · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈniːt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iːt
  • homophone: neat
  • CMU ARPABET: N IY1 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

Initialism of National Eligibility Entrance Test.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: India, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A person not in employment, education, or training.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Internet, UK

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Alternative letter-case form of NEET.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Alternative form of night.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Yorkshire, alt-of, alternative, archaic

Examples

  • It does get dark of a neet when t'mooin in't aat

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Acronym of not in education, employment, or training, originally British government jargon, first attested in the late 1990s. Currently, outside of Britain is largely due to its use in Japanese — especially from anime-related culture — which spread globally online.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: ni-ni — person not in employment, education or training
  • Chinese Mandarin: 尼特族 (nítèzú) — person not in employment, education or training
  • Chinese Mandarin: 家裏蹲 /家里蹲 (jiālǐdūn) — person not in employment, education or training
  • Finnish: ei työssä eikä koulutuksessa eikä asevelvollisuutta suorittamassa — person not in employment, education or training
  • Finnish: syrjäytynyt — person not in employment, education or training
  • Finnish: NEET — person not in employment, education or training
  • French: NEET — person not in employment, education or training
  • Interlingua: nini — person not in employment, education or training
  • Italian: né-né — person not in employment, education or training
  • Japanese: ニート (nīto) — person not in employment, education or training
  • Portuguese: nem-nem — person not in employment, education or training
  • Russian: не устроенный (ne ustrojennyj) — person not in employment, education or training
  • Spanish: nini — person not in employment, education or training