Unskilled Meaning
/əˈnskɪld/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf a person or workforce: not having a skill or technical training.
adjOf a job: not requiring skill or training.
Sentence Examples
Unskilled labor is poorly paid.
Peter works as an unskilled laborer.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The factory refused to hire ____ workers for the complex assembly line requiring years of experience.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The factory provides jobs for many ____ workers who are willing to learn and work hard for the company today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English skill English -ed English skilled English unskilled From un- + skilled.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In the autumn there was a row at some cement works about the unskilled labour men. A union had just been started for them and all but a few joined. One of these blacklegs was laid for by a picket and knocked out of time."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"Set against the background of the American civil war, with Keaton a cunning but unskilled driver, unaided, of the ponderous giant of a locomotive, it remains not only probably the funniest film about railways ever made, but one of the funniest silent films to retain its comic power over today's more sophisticated audiences."
— 1958 February 26, David Gunston, “Railways on the Screen”, in Railway Magazine, page 88:
"The minimum hourly wage for construction workers has increased to NOK 250,30 per hour for skilled workers and NOK 226,90 for unskilled workers, with an additional rate of NOK 235,80 for unskilled workers with at least one year’s experience in the industry."
— 2024 November 4, Terese Eriksen Eldholm, “Norway increases minimum wage rates across key industries”, in Magnus Legal, archived from the original on 20 Jun 2025:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The factory refused to hire ____ workers for the complex assembly line requiring years of experience.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The factory provides jobs for many ____ workers who are willing to learn and work hard for the company today.