Utmost

How to spell utmost

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce utmost

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does utmost mean?

1. adjectiveGreatest or most extreme in degree, amount, or importance.
2. nounThe greatest amount or degree that one can achieve or that is possible.

Utmost in a sentence

• adjective

  The surgeon worked with the utmost care during the operation.

• noun

  The team did its utmost to finish the report before the deadline.

• adjective

  We treat client confidentiality with the utmost seriousness.

• noun

  She gave her utmost to support her ageing parents.

Where does utmost come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word goes straight back to Old English utemest, a superlative built on the adverb ut, meaning 'out', combined with the superlative ending -mest. The original sense was literally 'outermost' or 'furthest out', describing the thing positioned at the extreme edge. Over the medieval period that spatial idea of 'furthest away' broadened into the figurative 'greatest in degree or amount', which is how we still use it today. The ending -most is itself a doubled superlative, since the old -ma and -est superlative markers fused together, which is why we say utmost rather than the older utter forms. The spelling trap is real: the second syllable sounds like 'most', and writers are tempted by an unrelated 'ut-' guess, but the steady -most ending is the reliable anchor.

How the word is built

• ut- (from Old English ut: out)
• -most (superlative suffix marking the furthest extreme)