Utopian

How to spell utopian

7 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce utopian

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does utopian mean?

1. adjectiveDescribing an ideal or perfect society, or an aim that is admirable but unrealistic.
2. nounA person who believes a perfect society can actually be achieved.

Utopian in a sentence

• adjective

  The manifesto promised a utopian future with no poverty and no crime.

• noun

  He was a hopeful utopian who trusted that cooperation would solve every dispute.

• adjective

  Critics dismissed the plan as a utopian fantasy that could never be funded.

• noun

  Only a utopian would expect the entire office to agree on one policy.

Where does utopian come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to Utopia, the name Thomas More invented in 1516 for the ideal imaginary island in his Latin book of the same title. More built the name from two Greek elements: ou, meaning 'not', and topos, meaning 'place', so the literal sense is 'no place' or 'nowhere', a witty hint that such a perfect society does not actually exist. There was also a clever pun lurking in it, since the nearly identical Greek eu, meaning 'good', suggested 'good place' at the same time. By the early 1600s the adjective 'utopian' was being used in English to describe anything idealistic, perfect, or impossibly desirable. The spelling trap lives in that opening, because the silent logic of 'no place' is hidden: writers must remember the single 'u', the 'to' from topos, and the plain '-pian' ending rather than doubling letters or inserting an 'h'.

How the word is built

• u- (from Greek ou: not)
• top (from topos: place)
• -ia (place-name suffix)
• -an (adjective/noun suffix)