u·to·pi·a

(yo͞o-tō′pē-ə)

a. often Utopia An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects.

b. A work of fiction describing a utopia.

2. An impractical, idealistic scheme for social and political reform.

[New Latin Ūtopia, imaginary island in Utopia by Sir Thomas More : Greek ou, not, no; see aiw- in Indo-European roots + Greek topos, place.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Utopia

(juːˈtəʊpɪə)

1. (Placename) (sometimes not capital) any real or imaginary society, place, state, etc, considered to be perfect or ideal

2. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) (sometimes not capital) any real or imaginary society, place, state, etc, considered to be perfect or ideal

[C16: from New Latin Utopia (coined by Sir Thomas More in 1516 as the title of his book that described an imaginary island representing the perfect society), literally: no place, from Greek ou not + topos a place]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

U•to•pi•a

(yuˈtoʊ pi ə)

n., pl. -pi•as.

1. an imaginary island described in Sir Thomas More's Utopia (1516) as enjoying perfection in law, politics, etc.

2. (usu. l.c.) any ideal place or state.

3. (usu. l.c.) any visionary system of political or social perfection.

[< New Latin (1516) < Greek ou not + tóp(os) a place + -ia -y³]

Utopia

See also society.

dystopia

an imaginary place where the conditions and quality of life are unpleasant. The opposite of Utopia.

Icarianism

the precepts and opinions of Etienne Cabet and his followers, who settled communistic utopias in the U.S. during the 19th cent., as Nauvoo, Illinois (1849). — Icarian, n., adj.

kakotopia

a state in which the worst possible conditions exist in government, society, law, etc. Cf. Utopia.

Utopia

1. name of an imaginary island; subject and title of a book by Sir Thomas More, that had a perfect political and social system.
2. (l.c.) any ideal place or situation.

utopianism

1. the views and habits of mind of a visionary or idealist, sometimes beyond realization.
2. impracticable schemes of political and social reform. — utopian, utopianist, utopist, n., adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	Utopia - a book written by Sir Thomas More (1516) describing the perfect society on an imaginary island
	2.	utopia - ideally perfect state; especially in its social and political and moral aspects state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state" dystopia - state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror
	3.	utopia - a work of fiction describing a utopia fiction - a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact
	4.	Utopia - an imaginary place considered to be perfect or ideal Sion, Zion fictitious place, imaginary place, mythical place - a place that exists only in imagination; a place said to exist in fictional or religious writings

utopia

noun paradise, heaven, Eden, bliss, perfect place, Garden of Eden, Shangri-la, Happy Valley, seventh heaven, ideal life, Erewhon We weren't out to design a contemporary utopia.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

المَدينَةُ الفاضِلَه

Utopie

Utopia

utopia

utopija

utópia

ºtópía; staîleysa

utopia

이상향

utopijautopinisutopiškas

Utopija

utopie

idealsamfunnet utopi Utopia

utopia

utopie

утопия

Utópia

düş ülkeütopya

乌托邦

Utopia

[juːˈtəʊpɪə] N → Utopía f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

utopia

[juːˈtəʊpiə] n → utopie f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Utopia

n → Utopia nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

utopia

[juːˈtəʊpɪə] n → utopia

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Utopia

(juːˈtəupiə) noun

an imaginary country that has a perfect social and political system.

Uˈtopian adjective

(of eg plans for benefiting mankind) desirable, but idealistic and impossible. Utopian schemes.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

This book is called Utopia. The name means "nowhere," from two Greek words, "ou," no, and "topos," a place.

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The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognised it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison.

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Sir Thomas More, 'Utopia.' Tyndale's New Testament and other translations of the Bible.

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Augustine's City of God, of the Utopia of Sir Thomas More, and of the numerous other imaginary States which are framed upon the same model.

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It may be a Utopia. But if once one allows the possibility of making of all the past a tabula rasa--no property, no family-- then labor would organize itself.

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It is much less fortunate persons, such as myself, to whom Utopia must seem such a delightful place."

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"Yes, yes; and you, I suppose, had a mother from the moon or from Utopia, since not a nation in Europe has a claim on your interest?"

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Such a programme for a treatise on government might lead us to expect in the Politics mainly a description of a Utopia or ideal state which might inspire poets or philosophers but have little direct effect upon political institutions.

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Everything is yet in the early stages of development; but with the science of the outer-world twentieth century to draw upon we are making rapid progress, and with all the faults and errors of the outer world to guide us clear of dangers, I think that it will not be long before Pellucidar will become as nearly a Utopia as one may expect to find this side of heaven.

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A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.

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To the ape-mind all this was sufficient evidence that the future would be identical with the immediate past--that Utopia would persist.

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They still dream of experimental realisation of their social Utopias, of founding isolated "phalansteres," of establishing "Home Colonies," of setting up a "Little Icaria" -- duodecimo editions of the New Jerusalem -- and to realise all these castles in the air, they are compelled to appeal to the feelings and purses of the bourgeois.

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