Meanings
comparative more disposable · superlative most disposable
- That can be disposed of.
- That is designed to be discarded rather than reused, refilled or repaired.
Rather than purchase an expensive razor he bought a packet of cheap disposable ones.
1 more example
A disposable cup sits in a museum gallery, fully intact even after being cast aside thousands of years ago.
2019 December 16, Amy Woodyatt, “3,600-year-old disposable cup shows even our ancestors hated doing dishes”, in CNN
plural disposables
- Any object that is designed to be disposed of, rather than refilled or repaired.
Parents who use cloth diapers often use disposables for travel, nights, or both.
2010, Kathleen Huggins, The Expectant Parents' Companion, page 881 more example
Durable goods can be cost-effective but make great disease vectors, and disposables like syringes and needles can be a problem in the poorest places, where there's desperate need of vaccines for diseases like polio. That's where the UCSD scientists come in.
2016 January 14, Jessica Hall, “Nanoengineers build 'microcannons' that fire light-up bullets filled with drugs”, in ExtremeTech- A disposable vaporizer, as for nicotine or a concentrate of cannabis (THC).
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAvailable to be used; at one's disposal.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivefree or available for use or disposition
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchdisposer
- Englishdispos(e)
- Englishdisposable
Translations
Bulgarian за еднократна употреба, наличен
- за еднократна употреба (za ednokratna upotreba)that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- наличен (naličen)available to be used
- разполагаем (razpolagaem)available to be used
Catalan disponible
- disponibleavailable to be used
Dutch besteedbaar
- besteedbaarthat can be disposed of
Esperanto forĵetebla, unu-uza
- forĵeteblathat can be disposed of
- unu-uzathat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
Finnish kertakäyttöinen, kertakäyttö-
- kertakäyttöinenthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- kertakäyttö-that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- käytettävissä olevaavailable to be used
- kertakäyttötavaraobject that is designed to be disposed of
French jetable, jetable
- jetablethat can be disposed of
- jetablethat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- disponibleavailable to be used
- jetableobject that is designed to be disposed of
German wegwerfbar, entsorgbar
- wegwerfbarthat can be disposed of
- entsorgbarthat can be disposed of
- einweg-that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- wegwerf-that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- wegwerfbarthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- für einmaligen Gebrauchthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- verfügbaravailable to be used
- zur Verfügung stehendavailable to be used
- zur gefl. Verfügungavailable to be used
- Einwegartikelobject that is designed to be disposed of
- Wegwerfartikelobject that is designed to be disposed of
Greek μιας χρήσης, διαθέσιμος
- μιας χρήσης (mias chrísis)that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- διαθέσιμος (diathésimos)available to be used
Hebrew חַד פַּעֲמִי
- חַד פַּעֲמִי (ẖad pa'mí)that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
Hindi प्रयोज्य, प्रयोज्य
- प्रयोज्य (prayojya)that can be disposed of
- प्रयोज्य (prayojya)that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
Hungarian eldobható, dobós
- eldobhatóthat can be disposed of
- dobósthat can be disposed of
- eldobhatóthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- egyszer használatosthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- rendelkezésre állóavailable to be used
- eldobható cikk/árucikkobject that is designed to be disposed of
Indonesian sekali pakai, siap pakai
- sekali pakaithat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- siap pakaiavailable to be used
Italian monouso, usa e getta
- monousothat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- usa e gettathat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- disponibileavailable to be used
Malay pakai buang, boleh buang
- pakai buangthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- boleh buangthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- boleh gunaavailable to be used
Polish jednorazowy, jednorazówka
- jednorazowyobject that is designed to be disposed of
- jednorazówkaobject that is designed to be disposed of
Portuguese descartável, descartável
- descartávelthat can be disposed of
- descartávelthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- disponívelavailable to be used
- descartávelobject that is designed to be disposed of
Romanian de unică folosință
- de unică folosințăthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
Russian однора́зовый, однора́зовый
- однора́зовый (odnorázovyj)that can be disposed of
- однора́зовый (odnorázovyj)that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- выбра́сываемый (vybrásyvajemyj)that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- ра́зовый (rázovyj)that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- досту́пный (dostúpnyj)available to be used
Scottish Gaelic so-chaitheamh, so-chaitheamh
- so-chaitheamhthat can be disposed of
- so-chaitheamhthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
Spanish desechable, desechable
- desechablethat can be disposed of
- desechablethat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- de un solo usothat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- de usar y tirarthat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- descartablethat is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- disponibleavailable to be used
- desechableobject that is designed to be disposed of
Swedish engångs-, slit-och-släng-
- engångs-that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
- slit-och-släng-that is designed to be discarded rather than refilled or repaired
Cite this entry
disposable. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disposable
“disposable.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disposable. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “disposable,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/disposable.
Source: disposable on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.