Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects.
- noun A work of fiction describing a utopia.
- noun An impractical, idealistic scheme for social and political reform.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An imaginary island, described by Sir Thomas More in a work entitled “Utopia,” published in 1516, as enjoying the utmost perfection in law, politics, etc. Hence [lowercase] A place or state of ideal perfection.
- noun Any imaginary region.
- noun In entomology, a genus of coleopterous insects.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An imaginary island, represented by Sir Thomas More, in a work called Utopia, as enjoying the greatest perfection in politics, laws, and the like. See
Utopia , in the Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction. - noun Hence, any place or state of ideal perfection.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
world in which everything and everyone works in perfectharmony .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun ideally perfect state; especially in its social and political and moral aspects
- noun an imaginary place considered to be perfect or ideal
- noun a work of fiction describing a utopia
- noun a book written by Sir Thomas More (1516) describing the perfect society on an imaginary island
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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All I know is it was published many years ago and the term utopia came about because of this book.
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AKG Images The Word "utopia" comes from Thomas More's book of the same name, first published in Latin in 1516.
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There idea of a utopia is a feudal system where old money remains in the old families while the poor eek out an existence as servants, if they are lucky, and peasants if they are not.
Think Progress » VIDEO: In Goodbye Speech, DeLay Bitterly Attacks Liberals 2006
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With the exception of Merriam-Webster, the word "utopia" is open to interpretation, especially when applied to the spirited town of Fairhope, Ala.
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And to think that by spending NASA's relatively minute buget on problems here on earth we will somehow create a social and ecological utopia is nothing short of ridiculous, if anything space exploration can have an incredibly positive and inspiring effect on society but only if it is alowed to and if the people who so vocally support these views have their way it never will be.
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The conservative view of judging is one that exists in utopia, not reality, on the Supreme Court cases that the public most cares about, because the meaning of the Constitution is far from clear and not readily susceptible to a ‘plain reading’ answer.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Attempts to Defeat the Kagan Nomination, and Political Hardball 2010
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What utopia is the scientist referring to … I think it would be rather different from the humanist version of utopia.
Essential Weekend Viewing: Kim Stanley Robinson at Duke, 1.29.10 « Gerry Canavan 2010
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I think the faith of many that a high-IQ society would be a utopia is sadly misplaced.
Why Do the Poor Commit More Crime?, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
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I am of the opinion that an anarchist utopia is morally abhorrent, however well-intentioned.
The Volokh Conspiracy » The Double Standard of Libertarian Paternalism 2010
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"And to think that by spending NASA's relatively minute buget on problems here on earth we will somehow create a social and ecological utopia is nothing short of ridiculous"
sonofgroucho commented on the word utopia
Isn't it interesting that currently almost twice as many people are listing dystopia compared with utopia?
A sign of the times, perhaps?
April 9, 2007
reesetee commented on the word utopia
Hmm...interesting observation, SoG. Maybe we should run a comparison of other Wordie antonyms!
April 9, 2007
uselessness commented on the word utopia
I listed them both... do I win?
April 9, 2007
reesetee commented on the word utopia
Always, u. Always.
April 9, 2007
polymorph commented on the word utopia
Well, utopia is literally "nowhere". I think it's interesting that social perfection is forever linguistically impossible (as it likely is in reality, so I think I favor this word).
April 9, 2007
bilby commented on the word utopia
The name of a region in central Australia. Which, as it happens, is very much nowhere.
November 26, 2007
fbharjo commented on the word utopia
here now and no where
July 16, 2012