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Synonyms

utilization

American  
[yoot-l-ahy-zay-shuhn] / ˌjut l aɪˈzeɪ ʃən /
especially British, utilisation

noun

  • utilizations
    plural
  1. an act or instance of making practical or profitable use of something.

    I don't think this plan results in the best utilization of tax dollars.


Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of utilization

First recorded in 1840–45; utiliz(e) ( def. ) + -ation ( def. )


Explanation

Utilization is a fancy way of saying "use." A team's utilization of a gym for practices might need to continue until it stops raining. You can see the verb utilize in utilization. When you utilize something, you use it, whether it is a tool, like when you utilize a pen to write something down, or a skill or talent, like the speed you utilize when you run a race. So utilization is the act of using, like the utilization of your voice that enables you to sing a song.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing utilization

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.

See Examples For:

The state agency calculated that the district has classroom capacity for about 718,475 students, compared with a 2025-26 enrollment of 353,065, “representing an overall utilization rate of approximately 49.1%.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Investors should ask how a loan holds up if chip-resale values, utilization and rental rates fall together.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

While U.S. refineries are running hot at around 97% utilization, Chinese refineries are only at 75% of their max output, data from Vortexa shows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Researchers using different extraction techniques produced fractions with different structures and different levels of utilization by gut microbes.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

“There is no better utilization of nervous energy than into ingredients that can make the stomach happy. Isn’t that right, Chandrashekhar?” she said to Oso, and dropped a piece of idli for him to eat.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

“Crucially, we also believe we are at the crux of a gross margin inflection point, driven by improving utilizations and GlobalFoundries aggressively expanding into accretive end-markets,” Muse wrote.

From Barron's ● May 4, 2026

The lower chemicals utilizations were already well flagged by the company, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026

The reduced utilizations, Rand found, occurred because the subjects decided to delay or forgo treatments, possibly inadvisedly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025

The volumes are significant for literary utilizations of folklore and interpretations of folks.

From Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest, with a Few Observations by J. Frank (James Frank) Dobie

"Petrouchka" has a brilliance and vivacity and madness that makes Rimsky's scenes from popular life, his utilizations of vulgar tunes and dances scarcely comparable to it.

From Musical Portraits Interpretations of Twenty Modern Composers by Paul Rosenfeld

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