renewable
Americanadjective
noun
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Relating to a natural resource, such as solar energy, water, or wood, that is never used up or that can be replaced by new growth. Resources that are dependent on regrowth can sometimes be depleted beyond the point of renewability, as when the deforestation of land leads to desertification or when a commercially valuable species is harvested to extinction. Pollution can also make a renewable resource such as water unusable in a particular location.
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Compare nonrenewable
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of renewable
Explanation
Anything renewable can be replaced or has an endless supply. Renewable sources of energy don't run out. Since re means "again," things that are renewable are always fresh and new: the supply can't be used up. This word often applies to energy. Fossil fuels like oil are not renewable resources; we will run out of oil someday. Energy sources like solar and wind power are renewable, because there's always going to be sunlight and wind. Anything renewable is going to last.
Vocabulary lists containing renewable
Power Suffix: -able
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Power Prefix: re-
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Natural Resources and the Environment - Introductory
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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.
The mixture prevented the cells from prematurely developing into mature immune cells, preserving a renewable population of progenitors.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
However, demand for renewable energy is expected to be supported by data centers seeking to cut carbon emissions and hedge against potential increases in electricity tariffs, he reckons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
AI is being deployed in a broad range of applications, from improving weather forecasts to monitoring industrial emissions and optimising renewable energy.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
He says an abundance of renewable energy from wind farms later in the century will make heating them relatively cheap and will cut down on air miles.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
“I get a renewable air supply, somehow. And a mechanical mermaid tail. I have a home pod underwater, so I never have to surface? Boom! I’m a mermaid.”
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
