planned obsolescence

noun

A policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or nonfunctional after a certain period.

Similar
built-in obsolescenceprogrammed obsolescence
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Meanings

nounplanned obsolescence (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or nonfunctional after a certain period.

    An equally important advantage of a system of planned obsolescence would be its function in providing a new reservoir from which to draw income for the operation of the Government.

    1932, Bernard London, “Ending the Depression Through Planned Obsolescence”, in The New Prosperity, published 1933, →OCLC
    2 more examples

    And Brooks Stevens, a leading industrial designer, explained obsolescence planning in these terms: “Our whole economy is based on planned obsolescence, and everybody who can read without moving his lips should know it by now. We make good products, we induce people to buy them, and then next year we deliberately introduce something that will make those products old-fashioned, out of date, obsolete.[…]”

    1960, Vance Packard, quoting Brooks Stevens, The Waste Makers, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 46

    To the general public planned obsolescence first came to notoriety through the highly popular writings of Vance Packard (1963), who slammed Stevens in his bestselling book The Waste Makers.

    2010, Tim Cooper, Longer Lasting Products, Gower Publishing, →ISBN, page 77

    Synonyms: built-in obsolescence, programmed obsolescence

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or nonfunctional after a certain period.

Similar
built-in obsolescenceprogrammed obsolescence

Origin

Coined by Bernard London in 1932 and popularized in the 1960 book The Waste Makers by Vance Packard.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan obsolescència planificada
  • obsolescència planificadapolicy
Chinese Mandarin 計劃報廢 /计划报废
  • 計劃報廢 /计划报废 (jìhuà bàofèi)policy
Czech plánované zastarávání
  • plánované zastarávánípolicy
Danish planlagt forældelse
  • planlagt forældelsepolicy
Finnish suunniteltu vanheneminen
  • suunniteltu vanheneminenpolicy
French obsolescence programmée
  • obsolescence programméepolicy
German geplante Obsoleszenz, geplanter Verschleiß
  • geplante Obsoleszenzpolicy
  • geplanter Verschleißpolicy
  • Produktvergreisungpolicy
Greek προγραμματισμένη απαξίωση
  • προγραμματισμένη απαξίωση (programmatisméni apaxíosi)policy
Japanese 計画的陳腐化
  • 計画的陳腐化 (keikakuteki chinpuka)policy
Korean 계획적 구식화, 계획적 진부화
  • 계획적 구식화 (gyehoegjeog gusighwa)policy
  • 계획적 진부화 (gyehoegjeog jinbuhwa)policy
Norwegian Bokmål planlagt foreldelse
  • planlagt foreldelsepolicy
Polish planowane postarzanie produktu, planowane ograniczenie trwałości produktu
  • planowane postarzanie produktupolicy
  • planowane ograniczenie trwałości produktupolicy
  • zaplanowana żywotność produktupolicy
Portuguese obsolescência planejada, obsolescência programada
  • obsolescência planejadapolicy
  • obsolescência programadapolicy
Spanish obsolescencia programada
  • obsolescencia programadapolicy
Swedish planerat åldrande, inbyggt åldrande
  • planerat åldrandepolicy
  • inbyggt åldrandepolicy
Cite this entry
APA

planned obsolescence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/planned%20obsolescence

MLA

“planned obsolescence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/planned%20obsolescence. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “planned obsolescence,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/planned%20obsolescence.

Source: planned obsolescence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.