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.
Brookfield Renewable, which is part of Canadian asset manager Brookfield, owns 46 gigawatts of renewable assets all over the world—enough to power tens of millions of homes.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
Renewable energy has helped absorb some of the shock in countries such as Spain that have aggressively added wind and solar power to their grids.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
Industry leaders welcomed the announcement with Renewable UK Cymru saying it would help unlock a "£10bn opportunity for Welsh businesses", 8,000 jobs and £183m in community benefits.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
Renewable energy has destroyed the global monopoly of fossil fuels: Renewables now account for a big and growing share of global energy production.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 20, 2026
Renewable resources, subsurface dwellings, artificial islands, and all without there ever being any less green or a sense of overcrowding.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
