attain

verb

at·tain ə-ˈtān

attained; attaining; attains

Synonyms of attain next

transitive verb

: to reach as an end : gain, achieve

attain a goal

: to come into possession of : obtain

he attained preferment over his fellows

: to come to as the end of a progression or course of movement

They attained the top of the hill.

attain a ripe old age

intransitive verb

: to come or arrive by motion, growth, or effort

—usually used with to

will probably attain to a height of six feet

attainability

ə-ˌtā-nə-ˈbi-lə-tē

noun

attainable

ə-ˈtā-nə-bəl

adjective

Examples of attain in a Sentence

a quest to attain enlightenment She refused to let the injury keep her from attaining her goal of being in the Olympics. This kind of tree can attain a height of 20 feet within just a few years. The car can attain a top speed of 200 mph.

Recent Examples on the Web Paras read along as the acquaintance asked another member of the chat for help—a figure by the name of LiteSpeed, who had attained a certain infamy for his denial-of-service wizardry. —

Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 14 Nov. 2023 In recent years, however, Acapulco has acquired a reputation as a faded haunt plagued by drug cartels and gang shootouts — even attaining the ignominy of being Mexico’s murder capital for a few years, though police say crime is down and other cities have assumed that inauspicious label. —

Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2023 People are laboring to attain economic stability, healthcare security. —

Sophia Sun, Variety, 7 Nov. 2023 Waging it, Israel will need to attain its goals and continue fighting for Hamas’s enduring defeat over years to come. —

Assaf Orion, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2023 The country to attain test status most recently is Afghanistan. —

Dominic Pino, National Review, 31 Oct. 2023 The movie, appearing on 700 screens in special Fathom Events screenings on Oct. 23 and 24, followed by a regular release on Nov. 3, examines the lengths people will go to in order to attain freedom. —

Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Oct. 2023 Our windiest day of autumn blew and blustered across the Washington area on Saturday, with powerful gusts attaining hold-onto-your-hat speeds, reaching into the 40 mph range. —

Martin Weil, Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2023 How Jordan—who only received 99 votes from his colleagues earlier this week—will attain the roughly 217 votes needed to take the gavel is unclear. —

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, The New Republic, 13 Oct. 2023 See More

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

Word History

Etymology

Middle English atteynen, from Anglo-French ateign-, stem of ateindre to reach, accomplish, convict, from Vulgar Latin *attangere, alteration of Latin attingere, from ad- + tangere to touch — more at tangent entry 2

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of attain was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century