attained

Verb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Attained means reached, gained, or achieved after effort, progress, or pursuit, as with a goal, level of skill, destination, or desired state.

Detailed Definition
To attain something is to reach it, achieve it, or come into possession of it. In older or more literary usage, the word can sound slightly formal compared with everyday verbs like
Example
Example in poetry:
“What I have missed with what attained” balances loss against achievement through compressed syntax; Tennyson’s “Ulysses” urges striving “to seek, to find, and not to yield”; Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnets frequently measure emotional gain against former deprivation; contemporary poems may ask whether professional, personal, or political goals attained were worth what was sacrificed
Additional Notes
In the line quoted, "attained" is a more literary verb than the everyday alternatives, so some readers may pause over it.; Found in the poem, Loss and Gain by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Also Known As
Achieved Realized Accomplished Secured
Skip to main content