How to Use attain in a Sentence

attain

verb
  • She refused to let the injury keep her from attaining her goal of being in the Olympics.
  • This kind of tree can attain a height of 20 feet within just a few years.
  • The car can attain a top speed of 200 mph.
  • His role as a pusher is key in helping the sled attain top speed.
    — American-Statesman Staff, Austin American Statesman, 15 Feb. 2026
  • What was once seen as a joke has attained the status of a prophecy.
    — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 25 Jan. 2026
  • Early on, there was hardly a hint that such a lofty perch would be attained.
    — Brian Santo, IEEE Spectrum, 7 Nov. 2019
  • Yet, two goals in one game 40 years ago have attained that status.
    — Cesar R. Torres, The Conversation, 17 June 2026
  • Why shouldn’t people strive to attain new knowledge, a new life?
    — Dennis Zhou, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024
  • Believe it or not, this runway-ready look is quite easy to attain on your own.
    — ELLE, 25 Feb. 2023
  • Not attaining that has sometimes brought out the ugly side of my ego.
    — Erin Berger, Outside Online, 19 July 2019
  • Farrell did not have to sit for hours in a makeup trailer to attain this new look.
    — Hunter Ingram, Variety, 3 May 2024
  • The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur.
    — Greta Bjornson, PEOPLE, 18 Dec. 2025
  • The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur.
    — Greta Bjornson, PEOPLE, 26 Dec. 2025
  • The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur.
    — Greta Bjornson, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026
  • There’s the eight-month, 162-game slog to attain a playoff spot.
    — Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2022
  • And in that time, women have attained equally good credit scores as men.
    — Jasmine Browley, Essence, 6 Mar. 2024
  • If Auburn hopes to attain that goal, the defense has some catching up to do.
    — Tom Green | [email protected], al, 21 Sep. 2022
  • There was a confidence there that sometimes is hard to attain.
    — Kirsten Chuba, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Aug. 2024
  • His rival, Hoshoryu, was the 74th man to attain the rank.
    — Elmira Aliieva, NBC news, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The push for achievement to attain future success can get in the way of self-love and self-care.
    — Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2022
  • Both wish to attain logic rather than express emotion.
    — Lisa Stardust, PEOPLE, 5 June 2026
  • In return for the effort, gym-goers attain the type of body that proves their virtue to all who see them.
    — Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2020
  • When might Databricks attain its trillion-dollar goal?
    — Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 10 Dec. 2025
  • Famous explores the dark side of celebrity and the lengths people will go to attain it.
    — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 6 Dec. 2024
  • Making a bowl game was already the highest goal the Cougars could attain.
    — Kevin Reynolds, The Salt Lake Tribune, 19 Nov. 2022
  • How does one attain fulfillment in life and, with it, find a sense of home and belonging?
    — Stephen Humphries, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Nov. 2020
  • In math, just 18% of students attained that level.
    — Larry Sand, Daily News, 6 Feb. 2026
  • How did China attain such dominance across the board in rare earths?
    — Steve H. Hanke, National Review, 25 Feb. 2021
  • Since then, a small group of these highways have attained the status of cultural icon.
    — Daniel Milowski, The Conversation, 29 June 2026
  • On Tuesday night, fans got a glimpse of the potential that the duo could attain.
    — Anthony De Leon, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'attain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: