obsolescence
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of obsolescence
First recorded in 1820–30; obsolesc(ent) + -ence
Explanation
Fashion trends come and go, and often return after a time. But gimmicky fads quickly fall into obsolescence, losing appeal and falling out of sight — do you know anyone who still has a pet rock? The word obsolescence is the noun form of the more common obsolete, meaning "something no longer used." Both words stem from the Latin obsolēscere, which means, logically enough, "to fall into disuse." Your phone or your car may be designed for obsolescence, meaning they are meant to stop working or go out of style so you'll buy a newer model. More amusingly, TV personality Art Linkletter once commented, "The four stages of man are infancy, childhood, adolescence, and obsolescence.”
Vocabulary lists containing obsolescence
Power Suffix: -escence
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Obsolescence is sadly the fate of most reporters.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2024
Obsolescence would be a sorry fate for a class that convinced itself that it had constructed the best and the last sociopolitical regime.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 10, 2018
The French investigation stems from a complaint filed in December by a French consumer group named Stop Programmed Obsolescence, or the French abbreviation HOP.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 10, 2018
But a 2008 study published in Science reached the opposite conclusion: Obsolescence has accelerated over the past 2 decades as journals have gone online, with authors tending to ignore older papers.
From Science Magazine • Nov. 4, 2014
The pass which marked the entrance to the Field of Obsolescence was barely visible ten miles away just a little east of north.
From The Runaway Asteroid by Cooper, Michael D., [pseud.]
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
