Utopia

[ yoo-toh-pee-uh ]

/ yuˈtoʊ pi ə /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR Utopia ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an imaginary island described in Sir Thomas More's Utopia (1516) as enjoying perfection in law, politics, etc.

(usually lowercase) an ideal place or state.

(usually lowercase) any visionary system of political or social perfection.

Origin of Utopia

< New Latin (1516) < Greek ou not + tóp(os) a place + -ia -y³

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for utopia

Founded as a utopia where possessions, childcare, and love were communal, traditional family structures were banned.
Surviving Life in a ‘70s Sex Commune|Nico Hines|December 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He was so disappointed with communism that he decided that the Khomeini utopia was the right one!
The Politics of Literature: An interview with Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa|Michael Moynihan|October 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Utopia for Beginners Joshua Foer, The New Yorker An amateur linguist loses control of the language he invented.
The Week’s Best Longreads: The Daily Beast Picks December 22, 2012|David Sessions|December 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Until that utopia arrives, it might be heartening to realize that most students have easy, albeit illegal, access to these drugs.
Randy Cohen’s Three Favorite Ethicist Columns|Randy Cohen|October 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia from 1970 was the founding document, the God and Man at Yale of the movement.
How Robert Nozick Turned on Robert Nozick|Michael Tomasky|May 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And how many generations yet must there be before we reach that Utopia?
The Secret Places of the Heart|H. G. Wells
Universal monkhood, in short, might have been a consummation to be aimed at in some Utopia; but was practically unattainable.
Buddhism, In its Connexion With Brahmanism and Hinduism, and In Its Contrast with Christianity|Sir Monier Monier-Williams
Therefore if all men could become rightly placed, we would have Utopia tomorrow.
The Armed Forces Officer|U. S. Department of Defense
Consequently, the more thorough-going designers of Utopia have proposed to abolish this awkward difference.
Social Rights and Duties, Volume I (of 2)|Sir Leslie Stephen
Utopia is a little soap, a little society, with a flavouring of brotherhood in each.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton|Patrick Braybrooke

British Dictionary definitions for utopia

Utopia

/ (juːˈtəʊpɪə) /

noun

(sometimes not capital) any real or imaginary society, place, state, etc, considered to be perfect or ideal

Word Origin for Utopia

C16: from New Latin Utopia (coined by Sir Thomas More in 1516 as the title of his book that described an imaginary island representing the perfect society), literally: no place, from Greek ou not + topos a place

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for utopia

Utopia

(1516) A book by Sir Thomas More that describes an imaginary ideal society free of poverty and suffering. The expression utopia is coined from Greek words and means “no place.”

Note

By extension, a “utopia” is any ideal state.