unaffordable
Americanadjective
Explanation
If something is unaffordable, it's too expensive. A house that costs millions of dollars is unaffordable for almost everyone. This adjective often describes things that cost too much money for the average person, like unaffordable rents in a particular city or unaffordable health care. When you can afford something, it's within financial reach; you can manage to purchase it. Unaffordable things are priced too high for your budget or bank account, like those ultra-rare sneakers you covet.
Vocabulary lists containing unaffordable
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A low starting salary, global pandemic, unaffordable housing market, graduate school and two kids didn’t stop Blake Edwards and his wife from becoming millionaires by their early 30s.
From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026
Research from housing charity Shelter Cymru said the private rented sector was unaffordable for most people in Wales.
From BBC • May 1, 2026
Although she encourages cleaner technologies, Romero disagrees with banning new gas-powered cars because it could make transportation unaffordable for some families.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
India supplies more than half of Africa's generic medicines, and cheaper semaglutide could become a lifeline for countries where obesity is rising rapidly but treatment remains unaffordable.
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
The MD offered antibiotics and antispasmodics but Jeanne had no insurance, the remedies were unaffordable.
From How and When to Be Your Own Doctor by Solomon, Steve
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
