Out of reach

Out of reach

“Out of reach” is an expression we use when something is inaccessible or unattainable . This can mean something you can’t afford , like an expensive car or luxury vacation , or it can refer to a goal or dream that feels impossible to achieve .

When you think about this expression, I want you to think about yourself reaching your arm forward and trying to grab something…but it’s just a little bit too far away. It’s out of reach.

So metaphorically speaking , if something is out of reach, it’s beyond your ability to obtain . You can’t get it, at least for now.

Financially or materially inaccessible

The most common way, and the easiest way , to use “out of reach” to describe things that are too expensive for someone to afford. You would typically use this for something close to what you could afford—but not quite attainable.

The U.S. is a land of car owners . Most people can afford a vehicle of some kind (you kind of need one), but not everyone can afford a new car. For some people, a new car is out of reach . They just can’t pay the price of a new car, so they buy used cars, which are usually a much better value .

So pay attention, here. If a new car is out of reach, it means the person can’t quite afford a new car. But they can get some kind of a vehicle. It’s not unreasonable to think they might buy a new car. But it’s just out of reach. It’s just a little too expensive for what they can afford.

Parents might also use this phrase when talking about their children’s education. For instance, a parent might say, “ Enrolling our kids in a private school is out of reach for us.” That means that the tuition fees are too high for the family to afford. A private school might be $10,000 or $15,000 per year, per kid. That’s out of reach for most families, especially since they pay taxes that pay for the local public schools.

If something is very difficult to afford, you can say “far out of reach.” Here’s another example: “Buying a home in New York City is far out of reach for most young people these days.” A one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan sells for, on average , $800,000, almost a million dollars for a one-bedroom apartment. For people making a middle-class salary, that is far out of reach.

But be careful with this. It has to be somewhat realistic . A trip to space on a Blue Origin space craft costs $450,000 for a 90-minute ride . You would not use “out of reach” with this because it’s just so far above what any normal person could pay. You want to use “out of reach” for something that a person could realistically hope for.

Unattainable goals or aspirations

“Out of reach” can also describe goals , dreams, or aspirations that feel impossible to achieve, even when money isn’t the issue. There are a lot of talented athletes at universities. In the U.S., football and basketball are popular at the university level—and very competitive. The big programs play on television; they play in packed arenas; and the best players move on to the professional leagues.

But getting drafted into a professional football or basketball league is out of reach for many good, talented players at the university level. There are too few spots available in the pro leagues. The very best players from a team might get drafted, might get drafted, but for most players you see on a college roster —even the ones playing on TV—a professional career is out of reach.

It’s not a question of money. It’s a question of talent and a hard, hard question of numbers. For most people who play at the college level, a pro career is out of reach.

Another example of an unattainable goal is something you just don’t have time for. How about this? Imagine a young parent has always dreamed of getting an advanced degree . But that person might say, “Earning an advanced degree while working full-time and raising a family is out of reach for me.”

In this case, it’s not about the tuition—it’s not about the financial cost of the program. It’s about the time it would take to do it. And the person might just not have the time to devote to such a demanding goal, like law school or a PhD program.

Juggling full-time work and family responsibilities is hard enough—getting an advanced degree on top of that is, for many people, out of reach. Some people do it. I don’t know how, but some people do it. But I would say for most people, being a parent and working is more than enough. Getting an advanced degree on top of that is just out of reach. It’s not a goal most people in that situation can achieve.

So just as we wrap up here, I do want to emphasize that the most common way to use “out of reach” is financial . We use it to describe something that is unaffordable.