What does tasked mean?
“Tasked” is the past tense and past participle of “task” and is also used adjectivally. As a verb form, it means that someone has been assigned a job, duty, or piece of work: “Each volunteer was tasked with checking the arrivals.” The common passive construction “be tasked with” emphasizes the responsibility entrusted to a person, while “be tasked to do something” states the required action. As an adjective, “tasked” describes someone assigned a duty, as in “three tasked employees,” although this use is less common and usually attributive. The word has a neutral but distinctly administrative or professional tone; it can imply that a person has been formally charged with responsibility rather than merely advised to act. It is useful when precision matters because it identifies both the assignment and the resulting obligation. It should not be confused with “taxed,” which concerns payment of taxes rather than allocation of work.
As the past tense or past participle of “task,” it means to assign a job, duty, or piece of work to someone.
"The committee tasked the volunteers with collecting donations."
It is especially common in the passive form “be tasked with.”
Having been assigned a task, duty, or responsibility.
"The tasked employees reported their findings on Friday."
This use is relatively uncommon and normally appears before a noun.
In “tasked,” the final -ed lands as a crisp /t/, giving the word a closed snap rather than the softer /ɪd/ sound.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tasked come from?
“Tasked” is formed from “task” plus the regular English past-tense and past-participle suffix -ed. “Task” entered Middle English from Old French “tasque,” meaning a piece of work, although its ultimate origin remains uncertain. Because the verb base ends in /k/, the suffix is realized as /t/ rather than /ɪd/, producing the pronunciation /tæskt/ in American English.
Related word forms
How tasked is actually used
“Tasked” has a neutral administrative or professional register and can sound formal or bureaucratic, especially when used in the passive. Its adjectival use is relatively uncommon and usually appears before a noun.
Easily confused with tasked
“Taxed” means required to pay a tax or subjected to taxation, whereas “tasked” means assigned work or responsibility.