Utopian
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, or resembling Utopia, an idealized imaginary island described in Sir Thomas More's Utopia (1516).
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(usually lowercase) founded upon or involving idealized perfection.
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(usually lowercase) given to impractical or unrealistic schemes of such perfection.
- Synonyms:
- impracticable, impractical, idealistic, visionary
noun
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an inhabitant of Utopia.
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(usually lowercase) an ardent but impractical political or social reformer; visionary; idealist.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Utopian
First recorded in 1545–55; from New Latin Ūtopiānus; see origin at Utopia, -an
Explanation
If you're looking to relocate to a utopia, good luck! A utopia is an ideal society, and a scheme or vision for producing such a society can be called utopian. In 1516, the English philosopher Thomas More published Utopia, a book about an island nation with the perfect form of government. This novel gave us the adjective utopian, which can be used to describe plans for or works of fiction depicting ideal societies. Dystopian literature, by contrast, describes nightmarishly repressive worlds. It's ironic that More himself may have conceived of his Utopia as a dystopia, or at least a satire. The name of More's novel is anglicized Greek for "no place" — which makes a lot of sense if you think about it.
Vocabulary lists containing utopian
100 SAT Words Beginning with "U"
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47 Great Words from "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," by Junot Diaz
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The 15 Most Relevant Words from the Fifth Republican Presidential Debate (+5 more words of note)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But Sweeney may also be hoping to attract the attention of one potential buyer, noting in his listing that the island is “near the future Flannery Utopian city planned for Solano County.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
Early on Matthew makes clear that this story won’t have the Utopian ending dreamed up by Bob and Sheryl.
From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2023
“I remember a really early conversation, where Ira told me small seed companies needed to be collaborators, not competitors,” said Chris Smith, executive director of the Utopian Seed Project, a North Carolina-based crop-trialing nonprofit.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2023
Chris Smith of the Utopian Seed Project is one of the core organizers of this work.
From Salon ● Jan. 27, 2023
Utopian, ū-tō′pi-an, adj. imaginary: fanciful: chimerical.—n. one who advocates impracticable reforms or who expects an impossible state of perfection in society.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
