dispensable
/dɪˈspensəbl/ (bre, ipa) · /dɪˈspensəbl/ (ame, ipa) · /di-ˈspen(t)-sə-bəl/ (ame, mw)
dispensable — adjective
- dispensablepositive
- more dispensablecomparative
- most dispensablesuperlative
1. not really needed, so you can do without it or remove it without causing serious
not really needed, so you can do without it or remove it without causing serious problems — for example, treating an extra meeting, a piece of old furniture, or even a junior worker as something you could easily live without.
Soraya decided that her old textbooks were dispensable and donated them to the library.
predicative use: be dispensable
After the budget cuts, many staff felt their roles had become dispensable to the company.
collocation: dispensable to [someone/something]
Liang argued that a second car was dispensable now that the office was nearby.
Some managers wrongly treat junior workers as dispensable, which damages team morale.
Megan packed only the items she truly needed and left the dispensable ones in storage.
- unnecessary
Plainer everyday word; broader scope and less formal than 'dispensable'.
- expendable
Stronger and more clinical; often used for resources, troops, or workers that can be sacrificed.
- nonessential
Neutral and common in policy or business contexts; emphasises 'not on the core list'.
- superfluous
Formal; suggests something is extra and adds nothing useful, even if not removed.
- indispensable
Direct opposite; absolutely needed and cannot be removed.
- essential
Common everyday opposite; without it, the whole thing fails.
- vital
Stronger than 'essential'; treats the item as life-or-death important.
文法句型
be dispensable
consider [someone/something] dispensable
用法筆記
Frequently predicative (be / become / consider … dispensable) and often modified by 'easily' or 'hardly'. The opposite, 'indispensable', is far more common in everyday writing; 'dispensable' is mostly used to argue that something or someone could be removed.