obsolete
adjective
, ˈäb-sə-ˌlēt\
Definition of obsolete
(Entry 1 of 2)
obsolete
verb
, ˈäb-sə-ˌlēt\
Definition of obsolete (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms for obsolete
Synonyms: Adjective
antiquated, archaic, dated, démodé, demoded, fossilized, kaput (also kaputt), medieval (also mediaeval), moribund, mossy, moth-eaten, neolithic, Noachian, outdated, outmoded, out-of-date, outworn, passé, prehistoric (also prehistorical), rusty, Stone Age, superannuated
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Examples of obsolete in a Sentence
Adjective
It may not be welcome news in her home state of Pennsylvania, but chemist Cynthia Kuper could help make steel obsolete. Experimenting with carbon nanotubes, structures a few atoms wide but 100 times stronger and much lighter than steel, Kuper calls her work an "amusement park discovery." — Joanna Chung, Newsweek, 23 Sept. 2002 He exercised a right so rare, at this the fag-end of the century, as to be practically obsolete. The most fundamental right of all. The right to be the good guy. — Zadie Smith, White Teeth, 2000 I never had parents, really. My mom was gone, my dad was at work or with his girlfriends, we had baby-sitters. My parents were obsolete. — Jonathan Kozol, Voices From the Future, 1993 The system was made obsolete by their invention. I was told my old printer is obsolete and I can't get replacement parts.Verb
While many … do describe various small, quick-loading 35mm film cartridges, modern technology has obsoleted these. — Herbert Keppler, Popular Photography, November 1993 … older cpu's whose speed and efficiency never were fully tapped before they were effectively obsoleted by their manufacturers … — Edith Myers, Datamation, November 1977 For radio itself deliberately obsoletes today what it built yesterday. — David Sarnoff, Television, 1936
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Then Donald Trump won the 2016 election, and the rebrand became obsolete. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "Thursday’s budget deal proves once again Republicans never cared about the deficit," 1 Aug. 2019 The list was likely to become obsolete in any case because China is phasing out EV subsidies. — Jacky Wong, WSJ, "A New Road for Electric Vehicles in China," 25 June 2019 As cities like New York and San Francisco adopt zero-waste policies that create incentives for diverting waste from landfills or incinerators, burning trash will increasingly become obsolete. — Ana Baptista, The Conversation, "Is burning trash a good way to handle it? Waste incineration in 5 charts," 20 June 2019 Soon after, though, fiber-optics made the technology obsolete. — Peter Fimrite, SFChronicle.com, "Unpublished photos of Apollo 11 recovery come to the surface," 19 July 2019 This leads to continuing a policy that is tenable, but increasingly obsolete and unimaginative. — George Steiner, Harper's magazine, "Russia and Red China," 10 June 2019 Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertion last month that Western liberalism was obsolete provoked some strident rebuttals. — Pankaj Mishra, Twin Cities, "Pankaj Mishra: Putin’s wrong, but so are liberals," 11 July 2019 The lack of funding has led to poor remuneration, the underfunding of hospitals which in turn means that medical facilities are inadequate and infrastructure is obsolete. — Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi, Quartz Africa, "As Nigeria’s health infrastructure crumbles, doctors have become a key export," 3 July 2019 The Suncoast Dome was obsolete before the Rays even played their first game there, an Astrodome in a Camden Yards world. — Joe Sheehan, SI.com, "Rays' Outrageous Montreal Plan Only Exists to Get New Stadiums Built—Again," 2 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Why would SpaceX want to obsolete its own, dominant products? — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Block 5 rocket launch marks the end of the beginning for SpaceX," 3 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'obsolete.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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