dispensable
Not at all essential
Dispensable describes something that can be done without—not essential, expendable.
A dispensable employee might be laid off first; dispensable luxuries get cut from a tight budget.
The word often carries an unflattering edge when applied to people, suggesting they lack importance or value: He was made to feel dispensable.
The opposite is indispensable.
Not strictly necessary
- unimportantLacking significance or weight
- unnecessaryNot essential or required
- optionalNot mandatory
- peripheralExternal computer add-on
incidental · trivial · minor · secondary · marginal · negligible · trifling · insignificant
Surplus beyond need
- extraAdditional, beyond necessary
- spareHeld in reserve
- superfluousExceeding what suffices
- redundantExceeding what's needed
overflow · leftover · unneeded · gratuitous · unnecessary · excessive · abundant · plentiful
Given as offering
- consumableDesigned to be depleted
- disposableMade for one use
- depletableAble to be consumed
- usableFit for application
burnable · spendable · exhaustible · throwaway · single-use · perishable · finite · temporary
Capable of being exchanged
- interchangeableAble to replace another
- fungibleReplaceable by equivalent items
- expendableAble to be sacrificed
- backupStored duplicate for recovery
spare · reserve · stand-in · surrogate · proxy · alternate · substitute · temporary
inessential
Not strictly necessary
- unimportantLacking significance or weight
- unnecessaryNot essential or required
- optionalNot mandatory
peripheral · incidental · trivial · minor · secondary · marginal · negligible · trifling · insignificant · ancillary
excess
Surplus beyond need
- extraAdditional, beyond necessary
- spareHeld in reserve
- superfluousExceeding what suffices
redundant · overflow · leftover · unneeded · gratuitous · unnecessary · excessive · abundant · plentiful · surfeit
sacrificial
Given as offering
- consumableDesigned to be depleted
- disposableMade for one use
- depletableAble to be consumed
usable · burnable · spendable · exhaustible · throwaway · single-use · perishable · finite · temporary · short-term
substitutable
Capable of being exchanged
- interchangeableAble to replace another
- fungibleReplaceable by equivalent items
- expendableAble to be sacrificed
backup · spare · reserve · stand-in · surrogate · proxy · alternate · substitute · temporary · provisional
- Insignificant thingstrivial, minor, small, tiny, negligible
- nonessentialunnecessary, unneeded, nonessential, inessential, expendable
- expendabledisposable, replaceable, expendable, redundant, unnecessary
- product qualitiesdurable, lightweight, flexible, sturdy, portable
- prioritypriority, top priority, high priority, low-priority, first priority
dispensablecrucial
Of supreme importance
critical · all-important · important · key · pivotal
dispensableirreplaceable
Having no adequate substitute
one-of-a-kind · priceless · unique · inimitable · invaluable
indispensable, indispensably, dispensability, indispensability