Worker Definition, Examples, and Common Usage

Meaning 1：an employee (worker)

worker 🔊

/ˈwɜːrkər/

A person who does a job, especially for a company or organization, and is not the boss.

Worker in safety helmet laying bricks on construction site

an employee 🔊

➕

/ən ɛmˈplɔɪiː/

A person who performs a job, especially for a company or organization, and is not an owner or manager.

📁 Category：Social Roles 🔖 Level：beginner

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

Worker comes from the verb 'work' (Old English 'weorc') plus the agent suffix '-er', meaning 'one who works'.

💡 Mnemonic

A worker is one who 'works' hard. Just add '-er' to 'work', and you get a person who does the job.

📖 Example

My uncle is a worker at a construction company, and he helps build new apartments. 🔊 My uncle is a worker at a construction company, and he helps build new apartments.

🔗 Collocations

hard worker – a person who works very diligently

factory worker – a person employed in a manufacturing plant

co-worker – a person who works alongside you in the same workplace

🔄 Synonyms

employee (n.) – a person who is paid to work for someone else

laborer (n.) – a person who performs physical work, especially in industry or construction

staff (n.) – all the people employed by a particular organization

🚫 Antonyms

employer (n.) – a person or organization that employs people

boss (n.) – a person who is in charge of workers

manager (n.) – a person responsible for controlling or administering an organization or group of workers

🌱 Derivatives

workplace (n.) – the place where one works

workforce (n.) – the total number of people employed in a company or region

workmanship (n.) – the skill with which something is made

📖 Cultural Story

The word 'work' traces back to Proto-Germanic 'werkan' and Latin 'urgere' (to drive). The suffix '-er' is common for agent nouns. Worker has been used since Middle English to describe a person employed in manual or industrial labor.