attained

American  

[uh-teynd] / əˈteɪnd /

adjective

1. reached or achieved, often after considerable time and effort.

   Any country with a reactor and a fairly easily attained level of expertise can build an atomic bomb.

2. having reached a specified level of accomplishment; skilled or expert.

   He was an eminent professor of religion and a highly attained mystic.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of attain.

Other Word Forms

• unattained adjective
• well-attained adjective

Etymology

Origin of attained

First recorded in 1590–1600; attain ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; attain ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

It wasn’t until 2022 that he attained the rank of ayatollah, the title given to a senior religious leader, and a prerequisite for anyone to become supreme leader.

From The Wall Street Journal

He had attained the rank of Hujjat al-Islam, but was presented as ayatollah -- a higher rank held by his father and by revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini -- upon his appointment as supreme leader.

From Barron's

Alireza Arafi, whose name has also come up as a potential successor, attained the rank of an ayatollah, or mujtahid, after publishing over 20 books and articles on Islamic jurisprudence and philosophy.

From Salon

Those goals, he argued, were "scoped and reasonable objectives that can be attained."

From Barron's

None but a child taken at an early age would have ever attained the proficiency and wrought such widespread evil as I have.

From Literature

Related Words

• accomplished
• completed
• executed
• finished
• performed