unavailable
Britishadjective
Explanation
If you can't meet your friend for dinner on Tuesday because you have other plans, you are unavailable. If the shoes you want have been sold out, they are unavailable. Unavailable means not accessible. If you avail yourself of something, you use it or take advantage of it. You might avail yourself of discount tickets to the theater provided by your school. If the tickets are all sold out, they are unavailable to you. In the context of dating, if someone is unavailable, he or she is already in a steady relationship or married. Someone emotionally unavailable is not open to sharing their feelings.
Vocabulary lists containing unavailable
Nobody's Home: Synonyms For "Absent"
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Absent
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un-
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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.
Novelty produced a similar effect: Travelers who tried activities unavailable to them at home reported more emotional balance than those who stuck to routine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
He has played there before and, unlike Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui - who could also switch sides if Luke Shaw is unavailable - is left-footed.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
They’re becoming more tempting to many because they give buyers access to otherwise unavailable seats, bypassing ticket draw lotteries like the one that happened in April and another that wraps up Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
According to AFP calculations based on data published by energy group EDF since 2015, 20.4 percent of generating capacity was unavailable.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
If Bob was unavailable, then he would rather be alone, for in temperament he was not in the least Mr. Clutter’s son but rather Bonnie’s child, a sensitive and reticent boy.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
