失业 meaning in English

shīyè

unemployment; to lose one's job

HSK 4Traditional 失業10 strokes

Meaning of 失业

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

shīyè

unemployment
to lose one's job

How to use 失业

失业 works as a verb meaning to lose one's job, and as a noun meaning unemployment, as in 失业率 (shīyèlǜ) unemployment rate. Example: 他去年失业了。(Tā qùnián shīyè le.) He lost his job last year.

失 (shī) means to lose, and 业 (yè) means work or occupation, as in 职业 (zhíyè). Put them together and you lose your work: 失业 is to become unemployed.

Common mistake: Learners often say 失去工作 or 失业工作, but 失业 already includes the idea of work, so it does not take an object. Also keep the tones straight: shī is first tone, not shí, and yè is fourth tone.

失业 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

解jiě决jué失shī业yè最zuì好hǎo的de办bàn法fǎ是shì去qù工gōng作zuò

The best way to solve unemployment is to work.

我wǒ失shī业yè又yòu没méi钱qián。真zhēn不bù知zhī该gāi何hé去qù何hé从cóng。

I lost my job and I have no money. I'm at my wit's end.

Mike已yǐ经jīng失shī业yè1年nián了le。

Mike has been out of work for a year.

他tā失shī业yè了le。

He has lost his job.

毕bì业yè就jiù等děng同tóng于yú失shī业yè。

Graduating is like losing your job.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

失 shī · to lose · 5 strokes

业 yè · line of business · 5 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 失业.

作业	zuòyè	school assignment; homework
失去	shīqù	to lose
消失	xiāoshī	to disappear; to fade away
事业	shìyè	undertaking; project
专业	zhuānyè	specialty; specialized field
职业	zhíyè	occupation; profession; vocation; professional
商业	shāngyè	business; trade
工业	gōngyè	industry
农业	nóngyè	agriculture; farming
开业	kāiyè	to open a business; to open a practice
就业	jiùyè	to get a job; employment
创业	chuàngyè	to begin an undertaking; to start an enterprise; entrepreneurship

Questions about 失业

What does 失业 mean?

失业 (shīyè) means "unemployment; to lose one's job".

How do you write 失业?

失业 is made of 2 characters: 失 (5 strokes), 业 (5 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.

Is 失业 an HSK word?

Yes. 失业 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 失业 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 失业 is written 失業.

What is the difference between 失业 and 下岗?

失业 is the general word for being unemployed. 下岗 (xiàgǎng) refers especially to workers laid off from state-owned enterprises in China, and it carries that historical flavor.

How do I say someone is unemployed right now?

You can say 他现在失业了 (tā xiànzài shīyè le) or 他在失业 (tā zài shīyè). For a person, the noun is 失业者 (shīyèzhě), an unemployed person.