unobtainium

Definition

A fictional material or component which, if it existed, would enable one to easily solve a hard problem.

Etymology

From unobtain(able) + -ium (suffix typical of names of atomic elements), modelled after uranium and titanium. Compare also the origin of dysprosium.

Example Sentences

• "Thus the invention of high temperature fuels will enable us to consider cores which are radiation cooled; such cores would be surrounded by large tanks (cooled by water) which in turn would be penetrated by beam holes. The beam holes themselves would probably have to be made of "unobtanium". (This "unobtanium" is a word coined at Atomics International to describe the material needed to make reactor projects feasible.) In between the radiation cooled reactors and the water cooled reactors is a regime suitable for liquid metal (including boiling liquid) cooled reactors. Once again "unobtanium" is needed."
• "In order to illustrate some of the features of data processing under ideal conditions, a set of simulated data was generated and is presented in the last four columns of Table II. The hypothetical material is called Unobtainium."
• "The names of materials presently used in aerospace applications are familiar: magnesium, aluminum, titanium, and so on. Propulsion scientists call the ideal material for turbine engines "Unobtainium," because it does not exist."