unattainable

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + attainable,^[2][3][4] the prefix meaning "not".^[3] Attainable is recorded from 1647,^[2] or the 1640s in Etymonline, and is formed from attain and -able.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, something that cannot be attained, a rare use: 1661, in J. Glanvill's Vanity of Dogmatizing.^[2] The adjective, that cannot be attained or reached, follows in 1662, in a funeral sermon by Bishop E. Hopkins.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1660s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it as "not to be gained or obtained; being out of reach", quoting Dryden's Religio Laici.^[5] From 1857, in F. D. Maurice, the unattainable was used for whatever lies beyond reach.^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1661 – noun, an unattainable thing (rare).^[2]
• 1662 – adjective, that cannot be attained or reached.^[2]
• 1857 – the unattainable, that which cannot be attained.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not able to be reached or achieved; out of reach: an unattainable standard.^[6][7][2]

Noun

1. the unattainable: that which cannot be attained.^[2][4]

Word family

• unattainability
• unattainably

Related words

• attain
• attainable

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster