What does hired mean?
Hired means employed in return for payment, and it is also the past tense and past participle of hire. It is widely used in job announcements, workplace conversation, and formal employment contexts: a company may describe someone as a “hired employee” or say that it has “hired an engineer.” The word can also describe something rented for temporary use, most familiarly in the phrase “hired car.” In these expressions, hired contrasts with owned or permanently unavailable. Because it is a regular verb form, its basic meaning is uncomplicated: an employer has brought someone onto the staff, or has engaged someone’s services. When used adjectivally before a job title, it reports recent employment clearly and concisely, while phrases such as “newly hired” emphasize that the employment has only just begun. The word is common in both British and American English, with the main regional difference lying more in the wider use of hire than in hired itself.
Employed, especially in a regular job; or rented for temporary use.
"The firm is looking for a highly skilled hired engineer."
The employment sense is standard in British and American English. The rental sense is especially familiar in the expression “hired car.”
The past tense and past participle of hire, meaning to employ someone or obtain the temporary use of something.
"The restaurant hired several additional servers."
In its verbal use, hired normally requires an object or indicates the subject has been employed.
Adding one letter to “hired” produces “heard”: one describes getting a job, while the other describes using your ears.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hired come from?
Hired comes from Middle English hiren, meaning “to engage for wages,” which developed from Old English hȳr, a Germanic word meaning “wages” or “payment.” The modern form hired arose as the regular past tense and past participle of hire, and later also came to be used adjectivally. Related forms include Dutch huur and German Heuer, both reflecting the same Germanic origin.
Related word forms
How hired is actually used
As a verb form, “hired” normally takes an object: “The manager hired two engineers.” As an adjective, it commonly describes a person employed in a job and, less often, a vehicle or accommodation rented temporarily. In British English, “hire” can also imply short-term or temporary employment, although “hired” alone does not necessarily carry that implication.
Easily confused with hired
Hired refers to employment or rental, while hard describes something difficult, solid, or intensively worked.