utterance
1 Americannoun
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an act of uttering; vocal expression.
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manner of speaking; power of speaking.
His very utterance was spellbinding.
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something uttered; a word or words uttered; a cry, animal's call, or the like.
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Linguistics. any speech sequence consisting of one or more words and preceded and followed by silence: it may be coextensive with a sentence.
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Obsolete. a public sale of goods.
noun
noun
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something uttered, such as a statement
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the act or power of uttering or the ability to utter
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logic philosophy an element of spoken language, esp a sentence Compare inscription
noun
Etymology
Origin of utterance1
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at utter 1, -ance
Origin of utterance2
1350–1400; Middle English < Old French outrance, oultrance, equivalent to oultr ( er ) to pass beyond (< Latin ultrā beyond) + -ance -ance
Explanation
An utterance is a bit of spoken language. It could be anything from "Ugh!" to a full sentence. To utter means "to say." So when you're saying something, you're making utterances. Saying "24" in math class is an utterance. A police officer yelling "Stop!" is an utterance. Saying "Good boy!" to your dog is an utterance. Even a long speech by the President is an utterance. If you can't hear it, it's not an utterance.
Vocabulary lists containing utterance
Silas Marner
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Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Phase the first
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Selection Vocabulary 2, Unit 4
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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.
Utterances that make Americans cringe don’t seem to faze.
From Washington Post • Feb. 7, 2020
Utterances of “Tiger” popped up out of the murmur of the crowd—hundreds of white people just standing there staring at him.
From The New Yorker • Jun. 14, 2019
Utterances of Whately and Arnold showed that minds in England were waking.
From An Outline of the History of Christian Thought Since Kant by Moore, Edward Caldwell
With such assuring Utterances and the unmistakable evidences of His sure and clear knowledge that His end was nigh, is there any reason why the followers of His Faith, the world over, should be perturbed?
From Bahá’í Administration by Shoghi Effendi
Utterances of this kind, at such a time, are firebrands thrown upon fear and hunger to kindle the flames of rage and cruelty.
From The French Revolution - Volume 1 by Durand, John
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.
