1
as in inaccessible
hard or impossible to get to or get at
an eagle's nest in an unattainable location
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in impossible
incapable of being solved or accomplished
unfortunately, world peace is probably an unattainable ideal
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unattainable
Just as Hedayat’s narrator tries to preserve the fleeting presence of the ethereal woman through an image, Golshiri’s protagonist has spent a lifetime writing this unattainable woman into his fiction to keep her alive.
—
Amir Ahmadi Arian, The Dial, 15 Jan. 2026
Safe and efficient solar generation and storage technology currently exists that can give consumers relief from this increase, if policymakers eliminate unnecessary, antiquated and costly regulations that make this choice unattainable for Floridians.
—Bob Norberg, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2026
Mushrooms lend earthiness and veal stock adds something far more unattainable, like a warm memory that's been lost in your head forever.
—Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer, 28 Dec. 2025
The tone needs to be unattainable affluence or tongue-in-cheek, and Emily doesn’t know how to do either.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unattainable
Amir Ahmadi Arian, The Dial, 15 Jan. 2026
Safe and efficient solar generation and storage technology currently exists that can give consumers relief from this increase, if policymakers eliminate unnecessary, antiquated and costly regulations that make this choice unattainable for Floridians.
—Bob Norberg, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2026
Mushrooms lend earthiness and veal stock adds something far more unattainable, like a warm memory that's been lost in your head forever.
—Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer, 28 Dec. 2025
The tone needs to be unattainable affluence or tongue-in-cheek, and Emily doesn’t know how to do either.
—Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unattainable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unattainable
Adjective
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Another one hasn’t been able to return to his home since the incident because his injuries make his home inaccessible to him.—
Gillian Stawiszynski,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
7 Feb. 2026
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Why do electric bikes have to be grossly expensive and overly inaccessible?—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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What had been absurdly labeled impossible suddenly was proven to be very doable.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
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In a sense, the quark-gluon plasma seems impossible.—
Joseph Howlett,
Scientific American,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The fact that three members of their regular defensive unit — who had helped Forest to keep 13 clean sheets last season — were unavailable did not help their cause.—
Paul Taylor,
New York Times,
7 Feb. 2026
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When Vangelis, too, was unavailable, Puttnam turned to Casablanca Records head Neil Bogart for help; Casablanca’s film division was behind the production of the movie.—
Philip Sherburne,
Pitchfork,
7 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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From what looked like a hopeless position just a few weeks ago, the subscribers are now off the bottom of the table and gearing up for a potential title challenge.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2026
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And if the hypotheticals are not enough to dissuade, history is littered with teams trading away their future for immediate glories, seeing their plans implode, and being left with a ruinous future that becomes a hopeless present while another team reaps the benefits.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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With health care accounting for nearly 30% of the federal budget (and other categories such as Social Security and defense politically untouchable), medical spending became one of the few remaining fiscal levers.—
Robert Pearl,
Twin Cities,
30 Jan. 2026
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Sacramento Kings Not a single member of the Kings should be untouchable.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Prices are inflated in January and, as Everton found, many top targets are often unobtainable.—
Patrick Boyland,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
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In his case, the beloved was the unobtainable Beatrice Portinari, a wealthy banker’s daughter whom Dante claimed to have loved from their first meeting, when both were children—a bit of charming self-mythology—and steadily on until her untimely death, at twenty-four.—
Claudia Roth Pierpont,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unattainable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unattainable. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
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