How to Use obsolescence in a Sentence

obsolescence

noun
  • Once a useful tool, slide rules have fallen into obsolescence.
  • Some of that could stem from fear of obsolescence.
    — Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 15 Aug. 2025
  • Is the arc of kitchen goods long but bends toward obsolescence?
    — Susan Orlean, The New Yorker, 12 July 2023
  • With that in mind, the model’s rapid obsolescence is all the obscener.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 18 Dec. 2025
  • All coal plants would have to shut down, and natural gas plants would be phased into obsolescence.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 22 Apr. 2021
  • Not long ago, Jones seemed to be at risk of sliding into obsolescence.
    — Luke Mogelson, The New Yorker, 15 Jan. 2021
  • Svendsen, for his part, fears no obsolescence, no matter what the rule ends up being.
    — Luke Decock, charlotteobserver, 1 June 2017
  • Over the past few years, the Grammys have been fighting a war against obsolescence.
    — Cady Lang, Time, 20 Nov. 2019
  • Paired with the alarming pace of skills obsolescence, this is a pressing concern.
    — Philippe Riveron, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2023
  • The worst of it is probably the sense of human obsolescence and doom that many of us convey.
    — Jaron Lanier, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2024
  • The movies deal with the specter of obsolescence — but also its happy twin, rebirth.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 June 2026
  • Van Halen held his guitar-hero mantle while that role faced obsolescence.
    — Jon Pareles, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2020
  • This is the sort of movie that’s been squeezed into obsolescence — a mid-budget yarn that isn’t begging for prizes.
    — Wesley Morris, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2020
  • This drive for upskilling is a direct response to the very real fear of job obsolescence.
    — Vivian Toh, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • What followed was a cool preview of the future obsolescence of people who drive.
    — Kevin Spear, orlandosentinel.com, 18 July 2019
  • All Zuckerberg et al know is that stasis is the path to certain obsolescence.
    — John Tamny, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2022
  • If their content isn’t available to them outside of those packages, there is a risk of obsolescence.
    — Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2025
  • The cryptic lyrics teem with images of death, decay, and obsolescence.
    — Zach Schonfeld, Pitchfork, 17 Apr. 2026
  • The threat of obsolescence ricocheted through the world’s staid central banks.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 26 June 2021
  • But its demise is a reminder of the creeping nature of media obsolescence.
    — Brian Stelter, The Atlantic, 2 Dec. 2022
  • Which puts the artform on a (hopefully slow, but who knows these days) course toward obsolescence.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Like many workers across the Rust Belt, he has been forced to ponder his own obsolescence.
    — Dan Kaufman, The New Yorker, 31 Oct. 2020
  • The fear of obsolescence creeps up on several characters in the book.
    — Erin Douglass, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 June 2022
  • But the alliance still seemed on its way to obsolescence, hobbled by a lack of purpose and disunity.
    — New York Times, 14 Jan. 2022
  • Thanks to the invasion, tanks are teetering on the edge of obsolescence.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 11 Aug. 2022
  • Matthew’s purpose in bringing them into the scene was to scoff at their obsolescence, not to boast of their endorsement.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Dec. 2023
  • The pressure is on for businesses to innovate and keep up, or face obsolescence.
    — Gregg Ostrowski, Forbes, 26 May 2021
  • Every major tech leap, from the printing press to the internet, sparked fears of obsolescence.
    — Trushant Mehta, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2025
  • The great crisis for the left today—the source of its angst and hatefulness—is its own encroaching obsolescence.
    — Shelby Steele, WSJ, 23 Sep. 2018
  • This demands a certain amount of respect even from those who—like me—decry the obsolescence of rear-engine layouts.
    — Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 21 Feb. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'obsolescence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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