Definitions

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  • proper noun The satirical treatise on government by Sir Thomas More, from which the term utopia was coined.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

The name of a fictional island, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More. Coined from Ancient Greek οὐ (ou, "not, no") + τόπος (topos, "place, region").

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Examples

  • In a foreword to a new edition of Brave New World published in 1946, after the horrors of the second world war and Hitler's "final solution", Huxley criticises himself for having provided only two choices in his 1932 utopia/dystopia - an "insane life in Utopia" or "the life of a primitive in an Indian village, more human in some respects, but in others hardly less queer and abnormal".

    O brave new world, that has such people in't! 2007

  • I'd underestimated what Wilde was saying about utopia ... famously in The Soul of Man Under Socialism he claimed that 'a map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.'

    Archive 2007-10-01 Adam Roberts Project 2007

  • It explores and expounds the interesting idea of the liberal utopia, which put simply: through democracy, capitalism and technological advancement, we will become more efficient and not have to work so hard to have the material plenty that will enter us into full integration, which I define as Utopia.

    Archive 2007-01-01 The_Lex 2007

  • I'd underestimated what Wilde was saying about utopia ... famously in The Soul of Man Under Socialism he claimed that 'a map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.'

    Maps for happiness Adam Roberts Project 2007

  • Epilogue 157 UTOPIA OR JUST MUDDLING THROUGH The term Utopia was fi rst used by Sir Thomas More in 1516, to describe his idea of a perfect society.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows masktusedo785 2009

  • (Utopia is Greek for "not place" -- that is, an impossible place suitable only for allegory.)

    Right Wing News 2009

  • In April, though, he took the radical step of chucking his robotics professorship, selling his house, upping sticks and moving to deepest, darkest Scotland to launch what he calls the Utopia Experiment.

    James Geary: Life in Utopia 2008

  • But his Utopia is always fresh and new, but these are not the times for Utopias.

    An Unofficial Frenchman's View of the European Situation 1936

  • "Utopia" comes from the Greek An abundance of conceptually informed exhibitions opened in New York in the space of three days at the end of October 2008, buoying the spirits in the wake of collapsing world economies.

    Powered by Joomla! 1.0 2009

  • Liberalism works great in Utopia, but not in Real Life.

    House Dem to switch to Republican Party 2009

Comments

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  • This is 'nowhere', literally!

    March 11, 2013