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laid off

Part of Speech:

All (7) Verb (2) Adjective (5)

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stop doing v.
relieve of responsibility v.
discharged adj.
jobless adj.
out of work adj.
recalled adj.
unemployed adj.

VERB

stop doing

Synonyms

WEAK

cease desist end give a rest give up halt leave alone leave off let up lie by quit rest spell

Antonyms

WEAK

begin employ hire start

VERB

relieve of responsibility

Synonyms

WEAK

discharge dismiss drop fire let go oust pay off retire early

Antonyms

WEAK

begin employ hire start

laid-off

ADJECTIVE

discharged

Synonyms

STRONGEST

fired freed released sacked

STRONG

axed canned ejected expelled furloughed ousted recalled replaced

WEAK

let go sent away sent home

ADJECTIVE

jobless

Synonyms

WEAK

between jobs collecting unemployment benefits on the dole out of a job out of work without employment without gainful employment workless

ADJECTIVE

out of work

Synonyms

WEAK

between jobs collecting unemployment idle jobless on the dole out of a job unemployed

Antonyms

WEAK

employed

ADJECTIVE

recalled

Synonyms

STRONGEST

canned

STRONG

discharged dismissed displaced fired ousted removed replaced retired suspended

WEAK

brought back let go

ADJECTIVE

unemployed

Synonyms

STRONGEST

idle inactive jobless underemployed

STRONG

down free loafing

WEAK

at liberty between jobs closed-down disengaged fired leisured on layoff on the bench on the dole on the shelf out of a job out of action out of work resting unapplied unengaged unexercised unoccupied unused without gainful employment workless

Antonyms

STRONGEST

active busy working

WEAK

employed occupied

Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for laid-off?

Laid-off is an adjective used to describe someone who has been released from employment. It comes from laid off, the past tense of the verb lay off, meaning to release someone from employment. Laid-off is often applied in phrases such as laid-off workers. Such workers are sometimes described as having been let go. Let go is sometimes used as a more euphemistic way of saying that a worker has been fired or terminated, but these two terms imply that the worker was removed from employment for a cause, such as poor performance or a violation of the rules. In contrast, laid-off is usually used in a more neutral way, simply to indicate that a worker has been discharged or dismissed, often as part of a wider series of dismissals (called layoffs) affecting multiple workers (perhaps because there is not enough work or because the positions are being eliminated). A person who has been laid off due to downsizing, for example, might be said to have been downsized (though this term is more often applied to an entire workforce). Workers who have been temporarily dismissed from work are often described as having been furloughed. In the U.K., the word redundant is used to mean removed or laid off from a job. In broader, economic terms—and more practically speaking—laid-off workers can be described as unemployed.

What is a more professional word for laid-off?

Laid-off is very commonly used, especially in its verb form, and is generally considered a neutral, professional way of indicating that an employee has been discharged. It may be considered euphemistic, but it’s not usually considered as euphemistic as the similar phrase let go (which is also used in the context of firing). Of course, layoffs are always a sensitive topic, regardless of which word is used. Furthermore, many employees may (often rightly) feel that they have been laid off unfairly or unnecessarily and use much stronger language to describe their company’s actions.

Are laid-off and fired the same?

Laid-off and fired suggest different things. Fired implies that the employee has been fired “for cause”—such as poor performance or violating the rules. Laid-off is usually used to indicate that the dismissal from employment is not based on anything the employee did but rather as a result of economic circumstances within the company, such as overall job cuts due to downsizing.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

laid off laid-off

“For the time being, employees that are employed to produce galvanized steel need to be laid off until we have a market for galvanized steel again,” Goncalves said in an interview.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

About six months into her first job at a real-estate developer in Hangzhou, she was laid off.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

The following month, it laid off 300 people or roughly 3% of its staff.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

In May that year, the company laid off 150 workers and dozens of contractors and part-time workers in areas including its social media teams.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

When Mami was laid off, we had to go on welfare.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

The wife of a loaded investor dabbles in documentary filmmaking and befriends the spouse of a laid-off factory worker.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

This is where severance payments and opportunities for laid-off staff to shift into open roles are discussed, and arguments put forward for some to be reinstated.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

They include novices straight out of education, laid-off construction workers and barbecue business owners seeking new inspiration.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

Last year, the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank identified what it said was a likely Chinese intelligence operation targeting laid-off U.S. government employees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

Barack, for his part, had spent plenty of time listening to laid-off factory workers, young military veterans trying to manage lifelong disabilities, mothers fed up with sending their kids to poorly functioning schools.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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