out-of-work

out-of-work — adjective

1. describes a person who does not currently have a paid job or any source of earne

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

describes a person who does not currently have a paid job or any source of earned income

Example

Piotr, an out-of-work electrician, spends his mornings at the job centre.

attributive: out-of-work + occupation noun

The city opened a free training programme for out-of-work construction workers.

Common collocations
  • out-of-work actor
  • out-of-work teacher
  • out-of-work engineer
  • out-of-work single mother
  • out-of-work union member
Synonyms
  • unemployed

    more formal and can be used both before a noun and after a linking verb

  • jobless

    slightly more informal; often used in news headlines

  • laid-off

    implies the person lost their job because the employer ended the position, not because they quit

Antonyms
  • employed

    the direct opposite; having a paid job

Grammar Patterns

out-of-work + noun

Usage Note

Only this sense (with hyphens) can be placed before a noun. The predicative form is the idiom 'out of work' below.

Common Mistakes

He is out-of-work right now.
He is out of work right now.
The hyphenated form is only used attributively before a noun, not after a linking verb like 'be'.
She is an out of work nurse.
She is an out-of-work nurse.
Without hyphens, the phrase cannot function as a single adjective before a noun.
Idioms

out of work

idiom

not currently employed; having no job to go to

Nadia has been out of work for six months since the restaurant shut down.

Eitan was out of work for a year before he found a position in a hospital.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four describe a person without a paid job, but they differ in usage. 'Out-of-work' is strictly attributive (before a noun), while 'out of work' (without hyphens) is strictly predicative (after a linking verb like 'be'). 'Unemployed' is the most neutral and can fill either position: 'an unemployed mechanic' or 'he is unemployed'. 'Jobless' is slightly more informal and is favoured in newspaper headlines for its brevity. 'Laid-off' carries extra meaning: it implies the person lost their job because the employer cut the position, not because they resigned or were fired for cause. For example, 'The government retrained laid-off auto workers' suggests a factory closure, whereas 'jobless auto workers' could mean any reason.

unemployed ↗joblesslaid-offout of work ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • find oneself out of work

Etymology

English

The phrase 'out of work' has been used since at least the 1500s to mean 'not employed'. The hyphenated compound adjective 'out-of-work' emerged in the late 1800s, when English began forming multi-word attributive adjectives for newspaper headlines and official documents. The hyphens signal to the reader that the three words together act like a single adjective before the noun.