disposable
Americanadjective
-
designed for or capable of being thrown away after being used or used up.
disposable plastic spoons; a disposable cigarette lighter.
-
free for use; available.
Every disposable vehicle was sent.
noun
-
disposables
plural
adjective
-
designed for disposal after use
disposable cups
-
available for use if needed
disposable assets
noun
-
something, such as a baby's nappy, that is designed for disposal
-
(plural) short for disposable goods
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of disposable
Explanation
Something disposable is not meant to last. It's OK to throw it out after you use it. Disposable diapers are a good example of what the word disposable is all about: after the diaper is used, it goes straight into the trash, and you can't use it again. Something disposable is replaceable. If a boss decides an employee is disposable, that means the employee will probably be fired. As you can imagine, people don't like to feel disposable. Lots of people don't like products that are disposable either. Disposing of things just creates more garbage, which is bad for the environment. Usually, things that are recyclable are better.
Vocabulary lists containing disposable
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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.
See Examples For:
Natalie said the popularity of disposable nappies might be a reason why parents often wait longer to potty train.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
His sudden rise had made him "an easily disposable product," he added.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Babies can go through about 3,000 disposable diapers a year, a basic-need product that has increasingly drawn concern from child health, environmental and consumer advocates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
United flyers have disposable income and want to spend on experiences, even as prices rise due to higher fuel costs, CFO Mike Leskinen says during a Morgan Stanley conference.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
He remembers when his paternal grandfather died, sometime in the seventies, remembers his mother screaming when she walked in on his father, who was shaving off all his hair with a disposable razor.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
His philosophy is to use features like color, weight, and shape to communicate containers’ reusability, making it less plausible that people will confuse them for disposables.
From Salon ● May 2, 2024
Greenpeace campaigner Leanne Tam hopes that the new law will discourage the throwaway culture and promote reusables, instead of “greener” disposables.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
But if we ban disposables, we also need to get the dodgy ones off the street, otherwise people might just turn to those instead.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2024
Over half of the charities Newsbeat spoke to suggested they'd like to hand out more reusable products but a number indicated that disposables, such as tampons and pads were still preferred by women.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2024
Today's cameras-from the disposables to the fully automated-encapsulate everything we have to know to operate them.
From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Mihai Nadin
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.
