Utopian

Utopian
/yooh toh"pee euhn/, adj.
1. of, pertaining to, or resembling Utopia.
2. (usually l.c.) founded upon or involving idealized perfection.
3. (usually l.c.) given to impractical or unrealistic schemes of such perfection.
n.
4. an inhabitant of Utopia.
5. (usually l.c.) an ardent but impractical political or social reformer; visionary; idealist.
[1545-55; < NL Utopianus. See UTOPIA, -AN]
Syn. 3. visionary, idealistic; impracticable.

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Universalium. 2010.

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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 — (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… …   Etymology 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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