Phrase guide

planned obsolescence

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: obsolescència planificada — policy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 計劃報廢 /计划报废 (jìhuà bàofèi) — policy
  • Czech: plánované zastarávání — policy
  • Danish: planlagt forældelse — policy
  • Finnish: suunniteltu vanheneminen — policy
  • French: obsolescence programmée — policy
  • German: geplante Obsoleszenz — policy
  • German: geplanter Verschleiß — policy
  • German: Produktvergreisung — policy
  • Greek: προγραμματισμένη απαξίωση (programmatisméni apaxíosi) — policy
  • Japanese: 計画的陳腐化 (keikakuteki chinpuka) — policy
  • Korean: 계획적 구식화 (gyehoegjeog gusighwa) — policy
  • Korean: 계획적 진부화 (gyehoegjeog jinbuhwa) — policy
  • Norwegian Bokmål: planlagt foreldelse — policy
  • Polish: planowane postarzanie produktu — policy
  • Polish: planowane ograniczenie trwałości produktu — policy
  • Polish: zaplanowana żywotność produktu — policy
  • Portuguese: obsolescência planejada — policy
  • Portuguese: obsolescência programada — policy
  • Spanish: obsolescencia programada — policy
  • Swedish: planerat åldrande — policy
  • Swedish: inbyggt åldrande — policy