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I'm writing a paper which includes some analysis of the fact that love cannot be bought. Repeating "cannot be bought" is becoming banal and repetitive, and I was wondering if there is a suitable replacement for it.

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I don't suppose unbuyable would be suitable? – waiwai933♦ May 13 '12 at 0:59
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or, "not for sale" – J.R. May 13 '12 at 1:35
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'priceless'.... – GEdgar May 13 '12 at 1:46
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Considering that buy is a “valid word”, and both -able and -un are productive affixes, it necessarily follows that the result of applying them must also be “valid words”. Whatever that means. Never ever ever trust Microsoft for anything. – tchrist May 13 '12 at 2:22
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When Word gives squiggly lines, try Wordnik. P.S. If unbuyable gets tired, unpurchasable might work, too. – J.R. May 13 '12 at 2:28
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closed as not a real question by Clark Kent, tchrist, Matt Эллен, kiamlaluno, RegDwighт♦ May 15 '12 at 12:47

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

3 Answers

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Love is infungible.

That doesn't mean you can't buy it. Everyone knows that you can. You just can't exchange it.

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+1 for cynicism – Mr.Wizard May 13 '12 at 8:39
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Cynicism?! That's reality, man. – Eli Rosencruft May 13 '12 at 8:47
Just curious what motivates you to use infungible there instead of unfungible or nonfungible. The OED doesn’t have any of them, but Ngrams likes the last one. – tchrist May 13 '12 at 13:56
You are correct. Infungible is Spanish. – Eli Rosencruft May 13 '12 at 15:38
up vote 1 down vote

The words to express this idea are invaluable or priceless.

That cannot have a value set upon it

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That has too much connotational baggage. Misery can't be bought either, but very few people would call it invaluable. – Optimal Cynic May 13 '12 at 5:41
@OptimalCynic: It does not mean "unable to be bought", but in the context of the OP, it could be used to describe love. – Shyam May 13 '12 at 7:02
The OP's question was for a term that means "cannot be bought". Invaluable doesn't mean that, any more than inflammable means not flammable. The joys of English. Note that priceless and valueless are effectively antonyms, despite meaning the same thing by your definition. – Optimal Cynic May 13 '12 at 20:51
up vote 0 down vote

Unavailable has wider application, but I think it would be understood in context as describing what you have in mind.

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