I. un ‧ em ‧ ployed 1 S2 W3 /ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd◂/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ employee , ↑ employer , ↑ employment ≠ ↑ unemployment , ↑ unemployed , ↑ employ ; adjective : employed ≠ ↑ unemployed , ↑ employable ≠ ↑ unemployable ; verb : ↑ employ ]
without a job SYN out of work :
an unemployed actor
I’ve only been unemployed for a few weeks.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people often say out of work rather than unemployed :
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He’s been out of work since January.
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THESAURUS
▪ unemployed someone who is unemployed does not have a job:
Fifty per cent of the men in this town are unemployed.
▪ out of work unemployed, especially for a long period of time, when you had a job before:
I’ve been out of work for two years.
▪ redundant British English if someone is redundant, they have been told that they no longer have a job:
He was made redundant earlier this year.
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redundant miners
▪ be on the dole British English , be on welfare/on unemployment American English to be receiving money from the government because you do not have a job:
I didn’t want to go back on the dole.
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Many people on welfare don’t have anyone to take care of the kids while they train for a job.
▪ be looking for work if someone is looking for work, they do not have a job and are trying to find one:
How long have you been looking for work?
▪ jobless people who are jobless do not have jobs – used especially in news reports:
The jobless totals have risen by 6% in the last year.
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jobless youths
II. unemployed 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ employee , ↑ employer , ↑ employment ≠ ↑ unemployment , ↑ unemployed , ↑ employ ; adjective : employed ≠ ↑ unemployed , ↑ employable ≠ ↑ unemployable ; verb : ↑ employ ]
the unemployed [plural] people who have no job
the long-term unemployed (=people who have not had a job for a long time)
a retraining scheme for the long-term unemployed