Similar Terms
The term handwavium (suggesting handwaving) is another term for this hypothetical material, as are buzzwordium, impossibrium, phlebotinum, and flangium.
The term Eludium (also spelled with variants such as Illudium) has been used to describe a material which has eluded attempts to develop it.
Another largely synonymous term is wishalloy, although the sense is often subtly different in that a wishalloy usually does not exist at all, whereas unobtainium may merely be unavailable.
A similar conceptual material in alchemy is the Philosopher's Stone, a mythical substance with the ability to turn lead into gold or bestow immortality and youth. While the search to find such a substance was not successful, it did lead to discovery of a new substance - Phosphorus.
Read more about this topic: Unobtainium
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