utopian

utopian
utopian (adj.) 1550s, with reference to More's fictional country; 1610s as "extravagantly ideal, impossibly visionary," from UTOPIA (Cf. utopia) + -IAN (Cf. -ian). As a noun meaning "visionary idealist" it is first recorded c.1873 (earlier in this sense was utopiast, 1854).

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Utopian — U*to pi*an, a. Of or pertaining to Utopia; resembling Utopia; hence, ideal; chimerical; fanciful; founded upon, or involving, imaginary perfections; as, Utopian projects; Utopian happiness. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Utopian — [yo͞o tō′pēən] adj. [ModL Utopianus] 1. of or like Utopia 2. [often u ] a) having the nature of, or inclined to draw up schemes for, a utopia; idealistic; visionary b) founded upon ideas envisioning perfection in social and political organization …   English World dictionary

  • Utopian — U*to pi*an, n. An inhabitant of Utopia; hence, one who believes in the perfectibility of human society; a visionary; an idealist; an optimist. Hooker. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Utopian — index quixotic Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • Utopian — *ambitious, pretentious Analogous words: impracticable, unfeasible, impossible (see affirmative adjectives at POSSIBLE): visionary, quixotic, chimerical (see IMAGINARY): ideal, transcendental, *abstract …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • utopian — [adj] imaginary, ideal abstract, airy, ambitious, arcadian, chimerical, dream, fanciful, fantasy, grandiose, hopeful, idealist, idealistic, ideological, illusory, impossible, impractical, lofty, otherworldly, perfect, piein the sky*, pretentious …   New thesaurus

  • utopian — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ idealistic. ► NOUN ▪ an idealistic reformer. DERIVATIVES utopianism noun …   English terms dictionary

  • utopian — [[t]juːto͟ʊpiən[/t]] utopians 1) ADJ GRADED (disapproval) If you describe a plan or idea as utopian, you are criticizing it because it is unrealistic and shows a belief that things can be improved much more than is possible. He was pursuing a… …   English dictionary

  • utopian — I. adjective Usage: often capitalized Date: 1551 1. of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a utopia; especially having impossibly ideal conditions especially of social organization 2. proposing or advocating impractically ideal social… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • utopian — u|to|pi|an [ ju toupiən ] adjective utopian principles or beliefs are based on the idea that life can be perfect. This is often used for saying that something is not practical or sensible: a utopian ideal/vision/fantasy …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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