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Definition of unemployed adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

unemployed

adjective
 
/ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd/
 
/ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd/
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  1. without a job although able to work synonym jobless
    • How long have you been unemployed?
    • unemployed workers/people
    • I've been unemployed for 5 months.
    • training for unemployed youth
    • an unemployed miner/labourer/builder
    • an increase in the number of people registered as unemployed
    • Thousands of labourers became unemployed with no alternative employment.
    Collocations UnemploymentUnemploymentLosing your job
    • lose your job
    • (British English) become/​be made redundant
    • be offered/​take voluntary redundancy/​early retirement
    • face/​be threatened with dismissal/(British English) the sack/(British English) compulsory redundancy
    • dismiss/​fire/ (especially British English) sack an employee/​a worker/​a manager
    • lay off staff/​workers/​employees
    • (Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English) retrench workers
    • cut/​reduce/​downsize/​slash the workforce
    • (British English) make staff/​workers/​employees redundant
    Being unemployed
    • be unemployed/​out of work/​out of a job
    • seek/​look for work/​employment
    • be on/​collect/​draw/​get/​receive (both British English) unemployment benefit/​jobseeker’s allowance
    • be/​go/​live/​sign (British English, informal) on the dole
    • claim/​draw/​get (British English, informal) the dole
    • be on/​qualify for (North American English) unemployment (compensation)
    • be/​go/​live/​depend (North American English) on welfare
    • collect/​receive (North American English) welfare
    • combat/​tackle/​cut/​reduce unemployment
    Extra Examples
    • As I was voluntarily unemployed, I wasn't entitled to benefit.
    • The closure of the factory left hundreds of men unemployed.
    • 1 million women were registered unemployed, compared with 2.3 million men.
    • unemployed graduates
    Topics Social issuesb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • be counted as
    • be registered (as)
    adverb
    • currently
    • newly
    • still
    See full entry
See unemployed in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee unemployed in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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