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.
He made a game-winning field goal as a sophomore on varsity when the other kickers were unavailable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
“Existing bondholders have absorbed painful price declines, but new capital can now lock in yields unavailable for much of the past two decades,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The renowned Brazilian chef also emphasized the "cultural loss" provoked by El Nino, referring to the disappearance of tradition along with the unavailable ingredient.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
It said online and email contact services were unavailable for a period following the attack, but these had now been restored and 999 and 101 service had not been affected.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
The explanation is partly that medieval European printers were able to combine six technological advances, most of which were unavailable to the maker of the Phaistos disk.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
