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Is sunsetted a valid word?

English Language & Usage Asked on December 16, 2020

As the title says is “sunsetted” a valid word?

In my office, I heard one of the guy saying that this application is sunsetted. Is that valid?

4 Answers

Initially I though "no way!" but according to Wiktionary it is commonly used as a verb in business to refer to the retiring of a product (why one wouldn't say 'retiring' or 'phase out' is beyond me).

sunset (third-person singular simple present sunsets, present participle sunsetting, simple past and past participle sunsetted)

(business, politics, transitive) To phase out. We'll be sunsetting version 1.9 of the software shortly after releasing version 2.0 next quarter.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sunset#Verb

Correct answer by waywardEevee on December 16, 2020

This meaning of sunset is in the OED:

to subject to, or terminate by means of, sunset legislation,

meaning that a law which is "sunsetted" is only valid for a certain period of time unless it is explicitly renewed. If this is the definition that was meant, to say that an application "is sunsetted" means that it has an expiration date, after which it no longer works, or is not supported, or is not guaranteed to work.

I believe the past tense used for this meaning is generally "sunsetted" and not "sunset", but I wouldn't be surprised at either one.

Answered by Peter Shor on December 16, 2020

The discussion on this is fascinating. Some bemoan "sunsetted" as jargon. I find it refreshing that legal types and computer programmers would use such a delightfully metaphorical term rather than something much duller, e.g. phased out or retired. I also agree with the argument above that "sunsetting" generally caries the meaning of the end being preplanned. Even from this practical vantage point, the allusion to the setting sun seems apropos to me.

Answered by Billy Williams on December 16, 2020

I have no argument about the fact that the term exists. However, sunsetted is awful. In the past tense I would use sunset, as an irregular verb, as past participle. Better yet, is to you phase out, which can be conjugated nicely as phased out.

Answered by FLR on December 16, 2020

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