Standard Lemma guide

unemployed

adj · noun · 5 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.

  • /ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɔɪd
  • CMU ARPABET: AH2 N EH0 M P L OY1 D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Having no job despite being able and willing to work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • The government announced a new initiative to help the unemployed.
  • The number of unemployed keeps rising steadily.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: jobless, workless

Antonyms: employed, working

2

adj

Meaning 2

Having no use, not doing work

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: disused, idle, abeyant, at rest, cessant, dormant, dull, fallow, inactive, inert, languid, latent, nonactive, passive, quiescent, silent, sedent, sedentary, slow, suspended, torpid, unactive, unbusy, unemployed, unoccupied, anachronistic, antediluvial, antediluvian, antiquated, antique, archaic, backward, backwards, behind the times, cobwebbed, cobwebby, dated, defunct, desuete, discontinued, dootsie, elderly, extinct, expired, fossilized, Havishamesque, hoary, Miss Havishamesque, mouldy, obsolete, old, oldfangled, old-fashioned, old school, outdated, outmoded, out of date, out of fashion, outworn, parachronistic, passé, primitive, superannuated, superseded, venerable, workless

Antonyms: employed, in use

3

noun

Meaning 3

The unemployed people of a society or the world, taken collectively.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: plural, plural-only

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

not engaged in a gainful occupation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • unemployed workers marched on the capital

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: employed

5

noun

Meaning 5

people who are involuntarily out of work (considered as a group)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the long-term unemployed need assistance

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unemployed people

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: people

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English employed English unemployed From un- + employed.

Across languages

Translations

99 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: i papunë — having no job
  • Arabic: مُتَبَطِّل (mutabaṭṭil) — having no job
  • Arabic: مُتَبَطِّلَة (mutabaṭṭila) — having no job
  • Armenian: գործազուրկ (gorcazurk) — having no job
  • Azerbaijani: işsiz — having no job
  • Belarusian: беспрацо́ўны (bjespracówny) — having no job
  • Bulgarian: безрабо́тен (bezrabóten) — having no job
  • Burmese: အလုပ်မဲ့ (a.lupmai.) — having no job
  • Catalan: desocupat — having no job
  • Catalan: aturat — having no job
  • Chinese Mandarin: 失業的 /失业的 (shīyè de) — having no job
  • Czech: nezaměstnaný — having no job
  • Danish: arbejdsløs — having no job
  • Dutch: werkloos — having no job
  • Dutch: arbeidsloos — having no job
  • Estonian: töötu — having no job
  • Finnish: työtön — having no job
  • French: au chômage — having no job
  • French: inoccupé — having no job
  • French: chômeur — having no job
  • Georgian: უმუშევარი (umuševari) — having no job
  • Georgian: დაუსაქმებელი (dausakmebeli) — having no job
  • German: arbeitslos — having no job
  • Greek: άνεργος (ánergos) — having no job
  • Hebrew: מובטל (muvtál) — having no job
  • Hindi: बेकार (bekār) — having no job
  • Hindi: बेरोज़गार (berozgār) — having no job
  • Hindi: निकम्मा (nikammā) — having no job
  • Hungarian: munkanélküli — having no job
  • Hungarian: állástalan — having no job
  • Icelandic: atvinnulaus — having no job
  • Ingrian: töötöin — having no job
  • Irish: dífhostaithe — having no job
  • Irish: neamhfhostaithe — having no job
  • Italian: disoccupato — having no job
  • Japanese: 失業者 (shitsugyōsha) — having no job
  • Khmer: គ្មានការងារធ្វើ (kmiən-kaa ngiə-thvəə) — having no job
  • Korean: 실업의 (sireobui) — having no job
  • Korean: 실직한 (siljikhan) — having no job
  • Korean: 실업자 (sireopja) — having no job
  • Central Kurdish: بێکار (bêkar) — having no job
  • Latvian: bezdarbnieks — having no job
  • Lithuanian: bedarbis — having no job
  • Luxembourgish: aarbechtslos — having no job
  • Macedonian: невработен (nevraboten) — having no job
  • Māori: kore mahi — having no job
  • Norman: d'sempliyé — having no job
  • Norwegian Bokmål: arbeidsledig — having no job
  • Norwegian Bokmål: arbeidsløs — having no job
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: arbeidsledig — having no job
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: arbeidslaus — having no job
  • Persian: بیکار (bi-kâr) — having no job
  • Plautdietsch: oabeitslooss — having no job
  • Polish: bezrobotny — having no job
  • Polish: niezatrudniony — having no job
  • Portuguese: desempregado — having no job
  • Romanian: șomer — having no job
  • Russian: безрабо́тный (bezrabótnyj) — having no job
  • Russian: неза́нятый (nezánjatyj) — having no job
  • Russian: нерабо́тающий (nerabótajuščij) — having no job
  • Russian: нетрудоустро́енный (netrudoustrójennyj) — having no job
  • Northern Sami: bargguheapme — having no job
  • Northern Sami: bargguheapmi — having no job
  • Scottish Gaelic: dìomhain — having no job
  • Serbo-Croatian: незапослен — having no job
  • Serbo-Croatian: nezaposlen — having no job
  • Slovak: nezamestnaný — having no job
  • Slovene: brezposeln — having no job
  • Spanish: desempleado — having no job
  • Spanish: cesante — having no job
  • Spanish: parado — having no job
  • Swedish: arbetslös — having no job
  • Thai: ว่างงาน (wâang-ngaan) — having no job
  • Tibetan: ལས་མེད (las med) — having no job
  • Turkish: işsiz — having no job
  • Ottoman Turkish: كارسز (kârsız) — having no job
  • Ukrainian: безробі́тний (bezrobítnyj) — having no job
  • Urdu: بے روز گار (be roz gār) — having no job
  • Uyghur: ئىشسىز (ishsiz) — having no job
  • Vietnamese: thất nghiệp — having no job
  • Volapük: nenvobik — having no job
  • Welsh: di-waith — having no job
  • Bulgarian: безработните (bezrabotnite) — the unemployed as a group
  • Chinese Mandarin: 失業者 /失业者 (shīyèzhě) — the unemployed as a group
  • Danish: arbejdsløs — the unemployed as a group
  • Dutch: werklozen — the unemployed as a group
  • Finnish: työttömät — the unemployed as a group
  • French: les chômeurs — the unemployed as a group
  • German: die Arbeitslosen — the unemployed as a group
  • Greek: άνεργοι (ánergoi) — the unemployed as a group
  • Italian: i disoccupati — the unemployed as a group
  • Japanese: 失業者 (shitsugyōsha) — the unemployed as a group
  • Korean: 실업자 (sireopja) — the unemployed as a group
  • Māori: hunga kore mahi — the unemployed as a group
  • Polish: bezrobotni — the unemployed as a group
  • Portuguese: os desempregados — the unemployed as a group
  • Russian: безрабо́тные (bezrabótnyje) — the unemployed as a group
  • Swedish: arbetslös — the unemployed as a group
  • Turkish: işsizler — the unemployed as a group
Real reading context

unemployed in complete knowledge articles