unavailable

adjective

un·​avail·​able ˌən-ə-ˈvā-lə-bəl 

: not available: such as

a

: not possible to get or use

a book that is currently unavailable online

The conference room is unavailable this afternoon.

b

: unable or unwilling to do something

Officials were unavailable for comment.

The manager is unavailable to speak with you right now.

unavailability

ˌən-ə-ˌvā-lə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

Synonyms

• inaccessible
• inapproachable
• inconvenient
• unapproachable
• unattainable
• unobtainable
• unreachable
• untouchable

Examples of unavailable in a Sentence

the commander is unavailable right now

Recent Examples on the Web

The Kansas City Department of Aviation and a spokeswoman for the city were both unavailable to comment on the pending lawsuit. —Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 7 Feb. 2025

Under the current law, the UKG [UK government] can issue a 'Technical Capability Notice' that seeks to obligate a provider to remove an 'electronic protection' to allow access to data that is otherwise unavailable due to encryption. —Ars Technica, 7 Feb. 2025

Officers are still searching for the suspect, whose description was unavailable. —Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2025

An agency spokesman said the web pages were unavailable because of scheduled maintenance. —Michael C. Bender, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1855, in the meaning defined above