Adjective
sustainable (comparative more sustainable, superlative most sustainable)
- Able to be sustained.
- Able to be produced or sustained for an indefinite period without damaging the environment, or without depleting a resource; renewable.
sustainable economy
2008, Kate L. Harrison, The Green Bride Guide, →ISBN, page 174:In addition to the resources listed in the organic and local food sections earlier, a good source of sustainable meat is Heritage Foods USA (heritagefoodsusa.com).
- 2008 August–October, Dawn Brighid, "A Taste of Hope", in Organic Gardening, ISSN 1536-108X, volume 55, number 6, page 73 :
- Some critics have asserted that sustainable food is "elitist"; that it's too expensive and not widely available.
2010, Anthony Bourdain, Medium Raw, →ISBN, page 129:A city on a hill—or many cities on hills—surrounded by unbroken vistas of beautiful countryside; small, thriving, family-run farms growing organic, seasonal, and sustainable fruits and vegetables specific to the region.
Translations
able to be sustained: environmental term
Translations to be checked
Noun
sustainable (plural sustainables)
- A renewable energy source.
1996, Joseph Francis Coates, John B. Mahaffie, Andy Hines, 2025: Scenarios of U.S. and Global Society Reshaped by Science and Technology, page 117:It has only been in the last 20 years that the long-term trend away from fossil fuels and toward nuclear energy and sustainables has intensified.
References
- “sustainable”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- sustainable in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- “sustainable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.