Attainable or obtainable?
attainable is an adjective meaning “Able to be accomplished, achieved, or obtained”; obtainable is an adjective meaning “Able to be obtained”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) attainable is about as common as obtainable.
What is the difference between attainable and obtainable?
| attainable | obtainable | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun | adjective |
| Meaning | Able to be accomplished, achieved, or obtained Something that can be attained | Able to be obtained |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Pronunciation | /əˈteɪ.nə.bəl/ /əˈtæɪ.nə.bəl/ | /əbˈteɪnəbl̩/ |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words | 1.2 times per million words |
Sources: attainable and obtainable in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of attainable and obtainable
attainable
- 1
Able to be accomplished, achieved, or obtained
- 2
Something that can be attained
obtainable
- 1
Able to be obtained
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, attainable or obtainable?
attainable appears 1.3 times per million words; obtainable 1.2 times per million words.
attainable 1.3 times per million wordsobtainable 1.2 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).