obsolete
/ˈɑbsəlit/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.65 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
No longer in use or no longer useful; now disused or neglected (often in favour of something newer, better, or more fashionable); outmoded.
adj
Imperfectly developed; not very distinct.
Example Sentences
- "Speedy, worldwide, accessible delivery of news through the Web has made newspapers obsolete."
- "Horses became obsolete means of transportation in cities in the first half of the twentieth century."
- "Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete."
- "These two birds somewhat closely resemble each other, but the Sedge Warbler is russet-brown above, the feathers with dark centres, the pale buff eyestripe is very clearly defined, and the underparts are buffish white; the Reed Warbler is more olive on the upper parts, the feathers having no dark centres, the underparts are more inclined to buff, and the eyestripe is nearly obsolete."
- "This software component has been obsoleted."
- "We are in the process of obsoleting this product."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁épsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁óp(i) Proto-Italic *op Latin ob Latin obs- Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *h₂oléyeti Proto-Italic *oleō Latin *oleō Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti Proto-Italic *-skō Latin -sco Latin olēscere Latin obsolēscere Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Latin -tus Latin obsolētusbor. English obsolete Borrowed from Latin obsolētus (“worn out, gone out of use”), past participle of obsolēscere (“to wear out, fall into disuse, grow old, decay”); see obsolesce.
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₂el-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɑbsəlit/
- British English: /ˈɒbsəliːt/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more obsolete (comparative)
most obsolete (superlative)
absolete (alternative, obsolete)
obsoletes (present, singular)
obsoleting (participle, present)
obsoleted (participle, past)
obsoleted (past)
obsoletes (plural)