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 action unfolded across four venues - each powered by renewable energy - with the most noticeable buzz around the SEC Campus.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Because sodium is abundant and relatively inexpensive, sodium ion systems could become a safer and more sustainable option for storing renewable energy on the electrical grid or powering electric vehicles.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
Ember, which promotes renewable energy, takes its data from the EIA’s monthly power reports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
Members pay for rewards—such as a deal on a new outfit for a golfing avatar, or a cowboy hat for PGATour—and in turn, the executives commit to paying for renewable energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Dozens of cities in the United States are now following suit, pledging to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 or sooner.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
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.
