jobless

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈdʒɑbləs/ UK /ˈdʒɒbləs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
without paid employment; unemployed

The factory closure left hundreds of workers jobless.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · without paid employment;... unemployed workless idle redundant

Opposites

employed working

Word family

Derived forms joblessness

Related forms job

Etymology

From 'job' + the native suffix '-less' ('without'); 'job' is of obscure origin, perhaps from obsolete 'job' ('a lump, piece'), the original sense being a piece of work.

-lēas Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# jobless

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈdʒɑbləs/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdʒɒbləs/

## Meanings
1. without paid employment; unemployed

## Examples
- The factory closure left hundreds of workers jobless.

## Synonyms
- unemployed
- workless
- idle
- redundant

## Antonyms
- employed
- working

## Derived Forms
- joblessness

## Related Forms
- job

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: -lēas

## Etymology
From 'job' + the native suffix '-less' ('without'); 'job' is of obscure origin, perhaps from obsolete 'job' ('a lump, piece'), the original sense being a piece of work.

## AI Etymology
Jobless comes from 'job' + the native suffix '-less' ('without'); 'job' is of obscure origin, perhaps from obsolete 'job' ('a lump, piece'), the original sense being a piece of work. The etymological trail includes Old English -lēas. As an adjective, jobless means without paid employment; unemployed. The same family is visible in derived forms such as joblessness and related forms such as job. Morphologically, the word is built from the elements named in its history, so the modern form preserves a visible compound, prefix, or suffix structure. The uncertainty belongs to the older derivation, so the explanation should preserve alternatives rather than choosing one unsupported origin.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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