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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 California state workers are watching the state legislature this week as policy debates could affect their workplace. — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 25 Aug. 2026 For students commuting to campus, parents tackling school-season errands, or workers looking for an alternative to taking the car on shorter journeys, an e-scooter can also eliminate some familiar motoring expenses. — New Atlas, 25 Aug. 2026 Six Flags has about 155 workers at the Charlotte office and Carowinds about 2,700 total employees at peak season, with the majority of those jobs being seasonal. — Charlotte Observer, 25 Aug. 2026 The result has been a city where too many families, workers, and young people struggle to afford rent. — David Schwartz, New York Daily News, 25 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for worker
Recent Examples of Synonyms for worker
  1. laborer
  2. employee
  3. slave
Noun
  • Built in 1610 by Spanish and Indigenous laborers, the church was destroyed in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt that drove Spanish colonizers out of the region for 12 years.
    — Dan Fellner, AZCentral.com, 23 Aug. 2026
  • Even though public schooling became compulsory in 1896, the language barrier and the remote location of many plantations led to gaps in access to these laborers’ formal education.
    — H.M.A. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of laborer
Noun
  • In Brazil, Statista gathered 900,000 evaluations from employees across a wide range of sectors.
    — Charlotte Hu, Time, 26 Aug. 2026
  • This includes owners, coaches, players, other team employees, game officials, and employees of the league office, NFL Films, NFL Network or any other NFL business.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of employee
Noun
  • The Christiana Riot, also known as the Christiana Resistance, occurred in Christiana, Pennsylvania, where free Black people and escaped slaves successfully resisted a federal marshal’s raid to capture four fugitive slaves.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026
  • So have other terms considered insensitive, such as master/slave and blackhat/whitehat.
    — Jo Mackiewicz, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of slave

Phrases Containing worker

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worked up
worker
workers
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Cite this Entry

“Worker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/worker. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on worker

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about worker

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