worker

noun

ˈwər-kər How to pronounce worker (audio)
Definition of workernext
1
as in laborer
a person who does very hard or dull work a champion of the rights of the farm workers who pick the nation's fruits and vegetables

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2
as in employee
one who works for another for wages or a salary a factory owner who is known for his fair and generous treatment of his workers

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of worker Executive orders aimed at excluding specific organizations from the PSLF program have not altered the initiative’s core structure, which forgives student debt for public service workers after 10 years of qualifying payments. — Scott White, Forbes, 11 Mar. 2025 Individual offices have already paused some operations because of a lack of workers. — Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 11 Mar. 2025 But the hiring rate is pretty soft and finding a job is harder — especially for knowledge workers. — Courtenay Brown, Axios, 11 Mar. 2025 Labor costs fluctuate based on accessibility and demand for skilled workers. — Katherine McLaughlin, Architectural Digest, 11 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for worker
Recent Examples of Synonyms for worker
  1. laborer
  2. employee
  3. slave
Noun
  • Without its central industry, it’s become a ghost town, and one where the era of Harmony and her old friend (played by character actor James LeGros) working as child laborers(*) for Lumon comparatively feel like the good old days.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2025
  • A week later, Chinese laborers returned to Rock Springs and soon resumed coal production.
    — Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025
Definition of laborer
Noun
  • When colleges join hands through the NCAA to set eligibility rules to play sports, those colleges are excluding students, rather than employees or prospective employees, from eligibility.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Musk is the multibillionaire tech executive who has become a close ally of President Donald Trump, heading up the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has laid off thousands of U.S. government employees and shut down federal programs in a matter of weeks.
    — Todd Spangler, Variety, 10 Mar. 2025
Definition of employee
Noun
  • Yet this trust was soon eroded as slave rebellions increased throughout the Americas, and, in 1802, Black Americans were banned from carrying mail until Reconstruction.
    — Sarah Prager, JSTOR Daily, 12 Mar. 2025
  • Galveston’s past closely mirrors New Orleans', with ports on the Transatlantic slave route that served a large swath of the American South.
    — Mariah Tyler, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 2025
Definition of slave

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Cite this Entry

“Worker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/worker. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.

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More from Merriam-Webster on worker

Nglish: Translation of worker for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about worker

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