Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use utilitarian in a sentence

19 example sentences · adjective, noun

Utilitarian means of or relating to utility. Example: “The semi-streamlined contour of the earlier G.W.R. railcars has been given up in favour of a more utilitarian blunt-nose end, and effective floor space gained thereby.”

Examples of utilitarian by meaning

adjectivePractical and functional, present for use, not just for show.

  • The semi-streamlined contour of the earlier G.W.R. railcars has been given up in favour of a more utilitarian blunt-nose end, and effective floor space gained thereby.1941 October, “Notes and News: Great Western Parcels Railcar”, in Railway Magazine, page 474

nounSomeone who practices or advocates utilitarianism.

  • Bankman-Fried often described himself as a utilitarian — meaning that he made decisions designed to advance the greater good.2023 October 11, David Yaffe-Bellany, Matthew Goldstein, J. Edward Moreno, “Caroline Ellison Says She and Sam Bankman-Fried Lied for...

More sentences with utilitarian

  • First, as indicated already, negative utilitarians seek to minimize the sum total of distress.2008, Roger Brownsword, Rights, Regulation, and the Technological Revolution, Oxford, Oxon: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 54. From the entry negative utilitarian
  • By utilitarian, I mean all remunerational, scholarly, political, professional, medicinal, charitable, recreational, diversionary, culinary or domiciliary activities.2003, Richard Schain, Radical Metaphysics, page 147. From the entry remunerational
  • Although, along with many so-called negative utilitarians, his emphasis is on reducing pain, rather than increasing pleasure.2001, Christopher Belshaw, Environmental Philosophy: Reason, Nature and Human Concern, Chesham, Bucks: Acumen, →ISBN, page 296. From the entry negative utilitarian
  • The keeping room became less utilitarian as kitchens, storage area, and bedrooms were added onto homes.1998, Lisa Skolnik, ADL: American Country, page 31. From the entry keeping room
  • And there seems to be an intrinsic disconnect between a high-end marque and the utilitarian nature of an S.U.V.2020 December 3, Brett Berk, “The S.U.V.-ification of Everything Comes to Classic British Marques”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry marque
  • The rule utilitarian is still committed to including all preferences, no matter how morally illegitimate they may appear.2001, Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy, Oxford University Press, page 29. From the entry win the day
  • Whereas some of the potters making unglazed gardenware have expanded their production, others now also make some "old-timey" utilitarian glazed stoneware.1994, Nancy Sweezy, Raised in Clay: The Southern Pottery Tradition, page 274. From the entry old-timey
  • Folklorists claim that the superstitious belief that opening an umbrella indoors augurs misfortune has a more recent and utilitarian origin.1989, Charles Panati, “From Superstition”, in Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things (Perennial Library), New York, N.Y.…. From the entry frangible
  • This is the 'Unidentified Authorizing Dictionary' identified by Rosamund Moon, and the purpose for which it might be consulted is decidedly utilitarian.2018, Elizabeth Knowles, 'And I Quote...', Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 52. From the entry Unidentified Authorizing Dictionary
  • This model of a postsuffering transhumanism is called “abolitionism,” a field organized around the manifesto, titled The Hedonistic Imperative, authored by utilitarian philosopher David Pearce.2017, Andrew Pilsch, Transhumanism: Evolutionary Futurism and the Human Technologies of Utopia, University of Minnesota Press, page 106. From the entry postsuffering
  • Patients with damage to this area are overwhelmingly utilitarian in their moral judgments in the case studies presented to them – trolleyology and many others.2010, Angela A. Stanton, Mellani Day, Isabell Welpe, Neuroeconomics and the firm, page 249. From the entry trolleyology
  • Belleek was made for both utilitarian and decorative purposes, shaped often in the form of seashells or marine life, such as coral branches.2000, Suzanne Von Drachenfels, The Art of the Table, page 55. From the entry belleek
  • Purely utilitarian considerations determined whether Usenet’s equivalent to IRC’s channel protection bots – the robo-moderators and automoderators and modbots – succeeded or failed.1997, Andrew Leonard, Bots: The Origin of New Species, San Francisco, Calif.: HardWired, →ISBN, page 175. From the entry automoderator
  • The farmyard showed no utilitarian sights and gave forth no rustic smells; it had been laid over with close green turf like a bowling green.1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 218. From the entry spick
  • To see the utilitarian hockey center transformed into a puck palace similar to the Minnesota Wild's home ice should bring chills to even the most staid fans.2008 July 6, Randy Krebs, “SCSU's plan deserves much praise”, in St. Cloud Times, USA, retrieved 11 May 2011, page B6. From the entry puck palace
  • While most pedestrian Madeira is made from a utilitarian grape, the tinta negra mole, the best blends and vintages are created from one of seven noble grapes.2002 March 13, Matt Lee, Ted Lee, “On Madeira, Bottled Treasure”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company…. From the entry bual
  • He knew the necessity of being fair to the other man’s assumptions and logic from the purely utilitarian standpoint of one who himself had a propagandum.1913 June, Thomas Percival Beyer, “Educing and Traducing: Some Remarks on Education and Treason”, in The Forum, volume XLIX, New York…. From the entry propagandum

Meaning of utilitarian

  1. adjective Of or relating to utility.
  2. adjective Pertaining to utilitarianism.
  3. adjective Practical and functional, present for use, not just for show.

Full definition of utilitarian

Questions about utilitarian in a sentence

How do you use utilitarian in a sentence?
Utilitarian is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “The semi-streamlined contour of the earlier G.W.R. railcars has been given up in favour of a more utilitarian blunt-nose end, and effective floor space gained thereby.”
What is a short sentence with utilitarian?
“First, as indicated already, negative utilitarians seek to minimize the sum total of distress.”
What does utilitarian mean?
Utilitarian means of or relating to utility.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: utilitarian (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use utilitarian in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/utilitarian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.