dispensable
/dɪˈspensəbl/ (bre, ipa) · /dɪˈspensəbl/ (ame, ipa) · /di-ˈspen(t)-sə-bəl/ (ame, mw)
dispensable — 形容詞
- dispensablepositive
- more dispensablecomparative
- most dispensablesuperlative
1. not really needed, so you can do without it or remove it without causing serious
可有可無
可以不要或被替換掉而不會造成嚴重影響
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.
Soraya 認為她那些舊課本可有可無，於是把它們捐給了圖書館。
predicative use: be dispensable
After the budget cuts, many staff felt their roles had become dispensable to the company.
預算縮減之後，許多員工覺得自己的職位對公司來說已經變得可有可無。
collocation: dispensable to [someone/something]
Liang argued that a second car was dispensable now that the office was nearby.
Liang 主張，既然辦公室就在附近，第二輛車已經可有可無。
Some managers wrongly treat junior workers as dispensable, which damages team morale.
有些主管錯誤地把資淺員工視為可有可無，這會傷害團隊士氣。
Megan packed only the items she truly needed and left the dispensable ones in storage.
Megan 只打包真正需要的東西，把那些可有可無的物品留在儲藏室裡。
- 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.