職しょく業ぎょう

しょ

く

ぎょ

う

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 5,000

Meanings

General term for one's regular work or means of earning a living. Neutral and widely used in formal and everyday contexts.

職しょく業ぎょうは何なんですか。
What is your occupation?
彼かれは職しょく業ぎょうとして医い者しゃを選えらんだ。
He chose medicine as his profession.

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Usage patterns

〈職しょく業ぎょう〉に就つくto take up an occupation; to enter a profession
彼かれは医い師しという職しょく業ぎょうに就ついた。
He entered the profession of medicine.
職しょく業ぎょうを選えらぶto choose an occupation
将しょう来らいどんな職しょく業ぎょうを選えらぶか迷まよっている。
I'm undecided about what occupation to choose in the future.
職しょく業ぎょうは〜ですused to state one's occupation
職しょく業ぎょうは教きょう師しです。
My occupation is teacher.
職しょく業ぎょうを持もつto have an occupation; to hold a job
彼かの女じょは特とく殊しゅな職しょく業ぎょうを持もっている。
She has an unusual occupation.

Kanji

職post, employment, work
業business, vocation, arts

Related words· 10

仕し事ごとN5
仕事 is a broad, everyday word for work or tasks, while 職業 is the more formal term specifically for one's profession or line of work.
職しょくN3
職 is a shorter, more formal or written-style word for occupation, often appearing in compounds, whereas 職業 is the full standard term used on its own.
職しょく種しゅ
職種 refers to a specific category or type of job (e.g. sales, engineering), while 職業 is the broader concept of one's occupation as a whole.
生業なりわい
生業 is a more literary or old-fashioned word emphasizing one's occupation as a means of livelihood, while 職業 is the neutral, everyday term.

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家か業ぎょうN1
職業 is a neutral, general word for one's occupation, while 家業 specifically implies a trade or business handed down within a family.
商しょう売ばいN3
職業 is the formal, neutral word for one's occupation, while 商売 keeps a commercial or trade nuance even when used colloquially for 'job'.
稼か業ぎょう
職業 is a neutral, official term for occupation used on forms and in formal contexts, whereas 稼業 emphasizes the trade or calling by which one earns a living.
業ぎょうN2
職業 is a formal, standalone term for one's occupation, whereas 業 is typically used as a suffix in compounds to denote a specific industry or business sector.
キャリアN1
職業 simply names a person's current job or profession, while キャリア emphasizes the long-term trajectory and development of one's working life.
ジョブ
職業 is the formal word for one's profession or occupation, while ジョブ is a casual loanword for a job or task.

Opposites

無む職しょくN3
無職 means having no job or occupation, the direct opposite state of having a 職業.

Don't confuse with

就しゅう職しょくN3
就職 is the act of getting employed or finding a job, while 職業 refers to the type of occupation itself, not the act of obtaining it.
職しょく務むN1
職業 means one's occupation or profession as a category (e.g. teacher, doctor), while 職務 refers to the specific duties one performs within that job.
公こう職しょく
職業 means one's occupation or line of work in general, whereas 公職 refers specifically to an official public office carrying legal or ethical duties.
役やく職しょくN1
職業 means one's general occupation or line of work, while 役職 refers to a specific title or managerial post held within an organization.

Word family· 31

職しょく業ぎょう病びょう
occupational disease
職しょく業ぎょう人じん
professional; career person; worker
職しょく業ぎょう名めい
occupation title; job title
職しょく業ぎょう柄がら
due to the nature of one's job; because of one's line of work
職しょく業ぎょう的てき
professional; occupational

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職しょく業ぎょう観かん
view of occupations; outlook on careers; work values
知ち的てき職しょく業ぎょう
intellectual occupation; learned profession
職しょく業ぎょうがん
occupational cancer
職しょく業ぎょう倫りん理り
professional ethics
職しょく業ぎょう団だん体たい
trade association; professional organization
職しょく業ぎょう婦ふ人じん
career woman; working woman

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Etymology

Compound of 職 (shoku, 'employment, work') and 業 (gyō, 'work, profession'). The combination has been used since at least the Meiji period to mean 'occupation' or 'profession'.