underemployment

noun

"underemployment" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“underemployment” is uncommon English (frequency #66,371 among 23,789 “U” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,371
frequency rank, English
23,789
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The condition of being underemployed.

Key facts for underemployment
PropertyValue
Headwordunderemployment
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters15
Frequency rank#66,371
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “underemployment” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). underemployment lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

underemployment is uncommon English at frequency #66,371 among 23,789 “U” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The condition of being underemployed.".

underemployment doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From under- + employment. The correct English form is underemployment, spelled U-N-D-E-R-E-M-P-L-O-Y-M-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The condition of being underemployed.

Etymology

From under- + employment.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "underemployment"?
"underemployment" is spelled U-N-D-E-R-E-M-P-L-O-Y-M-E-N-T.
What does "underemployment" mean?
As a noun, "underemployment" means: The condition of being underemployed.
What is the origin of the word "underemployment"?
From under- + employment. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “underemployment”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is U-N-D-E-R-E-M-P-L-O-Y-M-E-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list