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Definition of "sustainable" []

  • Capable of being sustained. (adjective)
  • Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment: sustainable agriculture. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "sustainable" in a sentence
  • "So be careful with the term "sustainable consumption.""
  • "Everyone also likes the term "sustainable development," and they can even parrot back the Brundtland definition a United Nations commission, formed in 1983 and named for the Norwegian politician Gro Harlem Brundtland, said that development should meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
  • "And as the crisis of the oceans becomes clearer, the term "sustainable farming" is gaining as much resonance for the sea as for land - and is just as difficult to achieve."