unattainable

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Germanic *un-

Proto-West Germanic *un-

Old English un-

Middle English un-

English un-

English attain

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlom

Proto-Italic *-ðlis

Latin -bilis

Latin -ābilis

Old French -ablebor.

Middle English -able

English -able

English unattainable

From un- + attain + -able.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌʌnəˈteɪnəbəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Australia, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌɐnəˈtæɪnəbəl/
• Hyphenation: un‧at‧tain‧a‧ble

Adjective

unattainable (comparative more unattainable, superlative most unattainable)

1. Impossible to attain or reach; unable to accomplish

   Synonyms: inaccessible, unobtainable, unapproachable

   Antonym: attainable

   • 1974, The Chesterton Review, page 262:

     Efficiency for the sake of efficiency, unchallenged authority conferred upon those who know well a few things and ignore everything else, disdain for the ordinary and humble elements that introduce happiness in our lives, worship of unattainable utopiae, are some of the features of the scheme which leads inevitably to the suppression of the eternal gifts bestowed by God upon every human person and to the frightful prospect of being ruled by what he vividly names “the Empire of the Insect.”

Derived terms

• unattainableness
• unattainably

Translations

impossible to attain

• Bulgarian: недостижим (bg) (nedostižim)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 高不可攀的, 不可企及的

• Czech: nedosažitelný m, nedostupný
• Danish: uopnåelig
• Dutch: onbereikbaar (nl)
• Finnish: saavuttamaton
• French: inatteignable (fr)
• German: unerreichbar (de), nicht machbar
• Greek: ανέφικτος (el) (anéfiktos)
• Italian: inattingibile
• Latin: inaccessus
• Manx: gyn roshtyn, neuroshtynagh
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uoppnåelig

  Nynorsk: uoppnåeleg

• Polish: niedosięgły, niedosiężny (pl), nieosiągalny (pl), niedostępny (pl), niedościgły (pl)
• Portuguese: inatingível, inalcançável (pt)
• Russian: недостижи́мый (ru) (nedostižímyj), недоступный (ru) (nedostupnyj)
• Spanish: inconseguible, inalcanzable (es)
• Swedish: ouppnåelig (sv)

Noun

unattainable (plural unattainables)

1. Anything that cannot be attained.