Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

self-employed

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.36 in modern English

Syllables: self--em-ployed
IPA

23

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Working for oneself, rather than for an employer.

Example Sentences

"Police said Ko Sasaki, of no fixed address and who claims to be self-employed, took two packs of condoms, worth about 2,000 yen, and tried to leave the store without paying for them."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- English employed English self-employed From self- + employed.

Phrases

self-employment

Frequently Paired Words

self-employment

Synonyms

freelance free-lance

Questions

What does self-employed mean?: Working for oneself, rather than for an employer.
Where does self-employed come from?: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- English employed English self-employed From self- + employed.

How to pronounce self-employed

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “self-employed”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “self-employed”.
Repeat and practice — Say “self-employed” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.