If you are self-employed, you organize your own work and taxes and are paid by people for a service you provide, rather than being paid a regular salary by a person or a firm.
[business]
There are no paid holidays or sick leave if you are self-employed.
...a self-employed builder.
The self-employed are people who are self-employed.
We want more support for the self-employed.
Synonyms: independent, temporary, freelance, consulting More Synonyms of self-employed
self-employed in British English
adjective
earning one's living in one's own business or through freelance work, rather than as the employee of another
Derived forms
self-employment (ˌself-emˈployment)
noun
self-employed in American English
(ˈsɛlfɛmˈplɔɪd)
adjective
working for oneself, with direct control over work, services, etc. undertaken and fees, charges, etc. set
Derived forms
self-employment (ˈself-emˈployment)
noun
Examples of 'self-employed' in a sentence
self-employed
Churches should not withhold payroll taxes from self-employed persons.
Christianity Today (2000)
Until then the self-employed builder and garage owner was fit and active.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Construction has chronic training problems not least because employers are mostly small businesses with workers largely self-employed.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
One problem of being self-employed is that earnings can be unpredictable.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The quarterly increase was attributed to more self-employed people.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
My husband is a self-employed builder and is losing work because of this.
The Sun (2016)
It is usually made against self-employed people or for business debts.
Tondeur, Keith Say Goodbye to Debt (1994)
The winner will be the self-employed person who is judged to have made that special effort and gone well beyond the call of duty.
The Sun (2008)
The gang raided the details of self-employed workers, including their unique tax reference numbers.
The Sun (2009)
Why don't self-employed people seem to get ill?
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The moves also mean a headache for self-employed people who earn around 50,000.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Like all self-employed people, she knows how fast things can change.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Most lenders like to see at least a year's earnings as a self-employed person before they will consider lending.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
A self-employed builder, he avoids direct debit as his income can vary each month.
The Sun (2014)
A proposed clampdown on errors in self-assessment tax returns may hit freelance workers and the self-employed.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In other languages
self-employed
British English: self-employed /ˈsɛlfɪmˈplɔɪd/ ADJECTIVE
If you are self-employed, you work for yourself, rather than for someone else.
If you are self-employed, it is easy to change the time you start work.