employment
noun
Simple meaning
Having paid work, or the work someone is paid to do.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehmploymuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɛmpˈlɔɪmənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The occupation for which you are paid
The occupation or work for which one is used, and often paid.
The state of being employed or having a job
The act of giving someone a job
The act of employing.
An activity to which one devotes time.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The occupation for which you are paid
Used this way, employment is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use employment
- “They are looking for employment.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A person or firm that employs workers.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An agency that finds people to fill particular jobs or finds jobs for unemployed people.
Someone who runs an employment agency.
Contract between employer and employee.
Contract between employer and employee.
An interview to determine whether an applicant is suitable for a position of employment.
An agency that finds people to fill particular jobs or finds jobs for unemployed people.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
A training program to prepare you for employment.
A queue of people waiting for employment.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
Sense: occupation for which you are paid
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.