throwaway

1 of 3

adjective

throw·​away ˈthrō-ə-ˌwā 

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

2 of 3

noun

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

3 of 3

verb

threw away; thrown away; throwing away; throws away

transitive verb

1

a

: to get rid of as worthless or unnecessary

b

: discard sense 2b

2

a

: 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

Verb

• cashier
• cast (off)
• chuck
• deep-six
• discard
• ditch
• dump
• eighty-six
• 86
• exorcise
• exorcize
• fling (off or away)
• jettison
• junk
• lay by
• lose
• pitch
• reject
• scrap
• shed
• shuck (off)
• slough (off)
• sluff (off)
• throw out
• toss
• unload

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

Reich also makes skillful use of the callback, in which a seemingly throwaway line is revisited and built on, sometimes multiple times. —Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2023

Even the seemingly throwaway dialogue in a dinner scene reinforces how society perceives women struggling to balance the unfair demands of family and career. —Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2023

Noun

There’s a throwaway line in the book about how these faux pas that happen on social media are the consequence of the difference between what a human and what a computer considers a large number. —Jason Parham, WIRED, 25 Oct. 2024

Particularly in the final 30 or 40 minutes, Lashon steals a number of the show’s biggest laughs, making a meal out of throwaway lines and small gestures. —Duante Beddingfield, Detroit Free Press, 25 Oct. 2024

Verb

Knight explained how her design process focuses on ways to make sure the customer is less likely to throw away the garment. —Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 31 Oct. 2024

The number includes not just energy used by hospitals and clinics but also the huge amounts of medical waste, often single-use plastic devices, which are thrown away each day, said Buonocore. —Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1886, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

throwaway

1 of 3 noun

throw·​away ˈthrō-ə-ˌwā 

: something that is or is designed to be thrown away especially after one use

throwaway

2 of 3 adjective

throw·​away

ˌthrō-ə-ˌwā

: designed to be thrown away : disposable

throwaway cans and bottles

throw away

3 of 3 verb

ˌthrō-ə-ˈwā

1

: to get rid of : discard

threw the old ones away

2

: squander, waste

careful not to throw money away