dispensable
/dɪˈspɛnsəb(ə)l
/adjective
1Able to be replaced or done without; superfluous: the captain’s loss of form made him dispensable...
- The fourth group can be characterized as the urban working class, most of whom are increasingly dispensable and replaceable; their diminished prospects cause them to be generally opposed to globalization.
- If we could, the manuscripts would become unnecessary, dispensable.
- We should not, however, assume from this that for Augustine-or for us-this parable is dispensable, a redundant repetition of a message that we already know from elsewhere.
Synonyms
expendable, disposable, replaceable, inessential, unessential, non-essential, skippable;
unnecessary, unneeded, needless, not required, redundant, superfluous, surplus to requirements, gratuitous, uncalled for
1.1(Of a law or other rule) not mandatory but susceptible of being waived in special cases.And finally, would the government get to decide which red streams were necessary and which were dispensable?...
- Yet these aren't dispensable technicalities or bits of mere philosophical jargon; they're essential to any useful discussion of ethics.
- But acquisition of a land title was often a dispensable technicality for those too poor to purchase one, or who were not inclined to do so because of the vastness of the land.
Derivatives
dispensability
- Could we develop a biological guidance system with the compliance and dispensability of a pigeon but with a man's resourcefulness and ability to infiltrate plausibly?
- It's the sense of disposability and dispensability of the population that's ongoing and that really irks me.
- She explores the theme of dispensability - how only some lives are worth mourning, protecting, defending and discussing.
Origin
Early 16th century (in the sense 'permissible in special circumstances'): from medieval Latin dispensabilis, from Latin dispensare (see dispense).