nonrenewable
Britishadjective
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Relating to a natural resource, such as petroleum or a mineral ore, that cannot be replaced once it has been extracted or procured. Nonrenewable resources that are not significantly altered by their use, including most metals, can often be recovered and their usefulness extended by recycling.
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Compare renewable
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 nonrenewable gas is produced by radioactive decay deep under the earth and escapes into space once released.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
“Humans will have to learn to be very, very careful with how we use nonrenewable resources like water,” LaBarge says.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 11, 2024
Some economists also expect fertilizer-grade phosphorus costs to skyrocket as the world’s supply of the nonrenewable resource dwindles.
From Science Magazine • May 2, 2023
Coal energy has three main advantages when compared to other sources of renewable and nonrenewable energy.
From Encyclopedia.com • Feb. 13, 2018
Net yields from nonrenewable reserves, residues and substitutes had dwindled until exhaustion was certain and a timeline predictable.
From The Universe — or Nothing by Moldeven, Meyer
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.
