Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Alternative spelling of unobtanium.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • For example, during the development and service period of the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, engineers working for Lockheed Corporation at the Skunk Works used the term unobtainium as a dysphemism for titanium.

    Two New Extended Clips from AVATAR – Collider.com 2009

  • Look, HG Wells had Cavorite, and the 'unobtainium' is clearly Cavorite in disguise.

    Will You Go See Avatar? 2009

  • The techno-geek community was dealing in unobtainium long before James Cameron heard of it.

    Think Progress » Paranoid Beck would embarrass her, Palin focused on googling NYC landmarks right before their interview. 2010

  • The precious ore, "unobtainium" - nice pun Cameron - so sought after isn't even given enough of a back-story for audiences to understand why it may be so precious.

    Iowa State Daily 2009

  • In it, we see the mad preppy corporate guy, head of the mining operation who employs a small army of former marines for security and directs them to attack the Na'vi people because his company wants the blang - a mineral called unobtainium - that's underneath the soil in

    The Avatar Movie from a Black perspective 2010

  • In it, we see the mad preppy corporate guy, head of the mining operation who employs a small army of former marines for security and directs them to attack the Na'vi people because his company wants the blang - a mineral called unobtainium - that's underneath the soil in

    The Avatar Movie from a Black perspective 2010

  • In it, we see the mad preppy corporate guy, head of the mining operation who employs a small army of former marines for security and directs them to attack the Na'vi people because his company wants the blang - a mineral called unobtainium - that's underneath the soil in

    Printing: The Avatar Movie from a Black perspective 2010

  • Tell them that diplomacy and aid work better than bombs, and that we do not need unobtainium, which is called that for a reason, although we know it as "oil".

    An Avatar Awakening 2009

  • The action unfolds in the year 2154 on the distant planet Pandora which is in the process of being invaded by SecFor (as in Security Force, get it?), a U.S. military-industrial complex/corporate conglomerate with designs on a rare mineral called unobtainium (as in not obtainable, get it?).

    NewsBlaze.com Current News - Top Stories 2010

  • The action unfolds in the year 2154 on the distant planet Pandora which is in the process of being invaded by SecFor (as in Security Force, get it?), a U.S. military-industrial complex/corporate conglomerate with designs on a rare mineral called unobtainium (as in not obtainable, get it?).

    NewsBlaze.com Current News - Top Stories 2010

Comments

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  • a material so rare or expensive it is unobtainable

    December 10, 2006

  • i've heard that word recently in my own office!

    December 12, 2006

  • Excellent word.

    December 31, 2006

  • read this recently in a Stephen Fry column in The Guardian.

    December 22, 2008

  • Possibly the stupidest thing about the Avatar movie.

    January 13, 2010