Unskilled

adj

adj ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of a person or workforce: not having a skill or technical training.

    "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."

  2. 2
    Of a job: not requiring skill or training.

    "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."

  3. 3
    Of a made object: inexpertly made or showing a lack of skill.
Adjective
  1. 1
    not doing a good job wordnet
  2. 2
    lacking professional skill or expertise wordnet
  3. 3
    not having or showing or requiring special skill or proficiency wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
amateurishincompetentsemiskilledunskillfula novice ata stranger to

Example

More examples

"At that time, bicycles were just starting to get popular and, here and there, there were many unskilled beginners who ran into people and broke through their hedges."

Etymology

From un- + skilled.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.