throwaway

adjective

throw·away | \ ˈthrō-ə-ˌwā

Definition of throwaway

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 : designed to be thrown away : disposable throwaway containers

2 : written or spoken (as in a play) in a low-key or unemphatic manner throwaway lines

3 : nonchalant, casual

4 : marked by a tendency to discard things : overly wasteful a throwaway society

throwaway

noun

Definition of throwaway (Entry 2 of 3)

1 : one that is or is designed to be thrown away: such as

a : a free handbill or circular

b : a line of dialogue (as in a play) de-emphasized by casual delivery especially : a joke or witticism delivered casually

2 : something made or done without care or interest

3 : a child who has been forced to leave home or who has run away from indifferent or hostile parents

throw away

verb

threw away; thrown away; throwing away; throws away

Definition of throw away (Entry 3 of 3)

transitive verb

1a : to get rid of as worthless or unnecessary

b : discard sense 2b

2a : to use in a foolish or wasteful manner : squander

b : to fail to take advantage of : waste throw away an opportunity

3 : to make (something, such as a line in a play) unemphatic by casual delivery

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about throwaway

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Examples of throwaway in a Sentence

Verb

I should throw away that torn shirt. if you buy a high-end computer, you'll just be throwing away money on a bunch of features you'll never use

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The orange phones are the bane of litter-decrying French environmentalists and a symbol of careless, throwaway cartoon strip capitalism. — Andrew Moseman, Popular Mechanics, "A 35-Year-Old Garfield Novelty Telephone Mystery Has Been Solved," 29 Mar. 2019 Stocksy In my new book The Lost Night there’s a throwaway moment that should feel familiar to female readers (even as male ones might miss it). — Andrea Bartz, Marie Claire, "Sometimes I Exploit My Sexuality and I'm Not Sorry," 25 Feb. 2019 While advanced racing bicycles are engineered around the newest technologies and supermaterials, this triathlon bike also was built with something decidedly old-fashioned and low-tech in mind: the throwaway round water bottle. — Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, "The $11,000 Bike Designed Just for Triathletes," 7 Oct. 2016 The conclusion said that the FBI wasn’t biased was not a throwaway conclusion at the end of the report, but a conclusion that’s examined in-depth and repeated with some frequency throughout the report. — Zack Beauchamp, Vox, "Trump told 4 lies about the inspector general report in one short Fox News hit," 15 June 2018 This was a throwaway line, said not to be taken seriously but to reinforce a bond with those who most definitely were not idiots and who strove to find intelligent solutions to intractable problems despite the odds. — WSJ, "Dean Acheson, My Father, Really Was an Anglophile," 25 Oct. 2018 But now, a throwaway line in the Japanese version of WarioWare Gold has thrown everything into question once again. — Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, "How do you pronounce “NES”? Nintendo throws a wrench in the debate," 3 Aug. 2018 And here is yet again a tableau featuring nonwhite characters — Chinese workers who’ve come to the U.S. to help build the transcontinental railroad — that the show reduces to either set dressing or a throwaway moment of shock and horror. — William Lee, chicagotribune.com, "‘Westworld’ Episode 4 recap: 5 things to know about ‘The Riddle of the Sphinx’," 14 May 2018 Fluff like this is a, well, inspired choice – the theatrical equivalent of a throwaway beach novel. — Matthew J. Palm, OrlandoSentinel.com, "'Xanadu' glitters with goofiness at the Garden," 7 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The policy seems to be working though, both judging by Metro’s sales and a throwaway stat in the presentation that the average Epic Games Store user already owns three games. — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, "The Epic Games Store won't always push for exclusives 'at this scale'," 21 Mar. 2019 In raising the pressure on North Korea, Trump has shocked the world with his seemingly throwaway insults of Kim, who has responded in kind. — Washington Post, "Analysis: North Korea’s outreach greeted with skepticism," 7 Mar. 2018 Green forged another route: The designer applied traditional homey techniques like crochet and ruching usually used in womenswear to contemporary materials and forward-looking silhouettes that looked anything but throwaway. — Laird Borrelli-persson, Vogue, "Inspired by Craig Green’s Fall 2019 Lineup, a Look at Fantastic Plastics in Fashion," 7 Jan. 2019 Others point to the fact that fur is handed down generation to generation, whereas faux fur joins the throwaway economy much faster, adding to the waste generated. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "Am I the Only One Who Feels Guilty About Wearing Vintage Fur?," 15 Jan. 2019 Cities in the United States have also been trying to ban some plastics, including grocery bags and those ubiquitous straws that have suddenly turned into a symbol of all that is wrong with our throwaway culture. — Xiaozhi Lim, The Seattle Times, "Chemists in search of their Holy Grail: a plastic designed to die," 6 Aug. 2018 Rogue One propped up a throwaway reference from the opening seconds of A New Hope while Solo played out a line uttered by Han Solo in the same film (which my colleague Chaim Gartenberg called back in 2016). — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "Lucasfilm canceling its Boba Fett film could be good news for Star Wars’ future," 26 Oct. 2018 But in the popular imagination, his name is most commonly associated with one simple, three-word question, originally meant as a throwaway joke to amuse a group of scientists discussing UFOs at the Los Alamos lab in 1950: Where is everybody? — Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, "But, Seriously, Where Is Everybody?," 22 June 2018 Some of his throwaway observations, like the shot of a kid sniffing a highlighter pen in class, feel like something out of a wildlife documentary. — Justin Chang, latimes.com, "Review: Bo Burnham's 'Eighth Grade' is a beautifully honest portrait of adolescent girlhood," 11 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'throwaway.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.