utility
/juːˈtɪlɪti/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/jʉwˈtɪləti/
utility noun: the state or condition of being useful; usefulness.
Noun
utility (countable and uncountable, plural utilities)
- The state or condition of being useful; usefulness.
- "The profession has its utility, but I should be sorry to see any friend of mine belonging to it."1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], “III”, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817...
- Something that is useful.
- Undoubtedly it can be said that the humble 0-6-0 has been the backbone for general service, or general utility on British railways right from their earliest days, and is likely to remain so.1945 November and December, H. C. Casserley, “Random Reflections on British Locomotive Types—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 320
- The ability of a commodity to satisfy needs or wants; the satisfaction experienced by the consumer of that commodity.
- Well-being, satisfaction, pleasure, or happiness.
- A commodity or service provided on a continuous basis by a physical infrastructure network, such as electricity, water supply or sewerage.
- The complex includes the usual utilities (gas and electricity) and amenities like wifi and a gym (toilets with toiletries).
- Elsewhere, utility diversion works are still scheduled to continue, with work to move a gas main on Drummond Street set to begin in early 2025.2025 February 19, Chris Howe, “Euston: a work in progress”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 46
- Synonyms:
- service
- A natural or legal monopoly distributer of such a utility; or, the securities of such a provider.
- A software program other than a game; one that is useful or creative rather than merely entertaining.
- a graphics utility; a music utility
- A software program designed to perform a single task or a small range of tasks, often to help manage and tune computer hardware, an operating system, or application software.
- Holonyms: app, application, program
- I've bought a new disk utility that can recover deleted files.
- The ability to play multiple positions.
- A coupé utility, or ute; an automobile with an open tray or bed behind the passenger cabin.
- Tim Archer got into the utility and drove[.] The car was a 1946 Chevrolet, somewhat battered by four years of station use, a sturdy practical vehicle with a coupé front seat and an open truck body behind.1952, Nevil Shute, chapter 1, in The Far Country, Melbourne: Heinemann
Adjective
utility
- Having to do with, or owned by, a service provider.
- utility line; utility bill
- Synonyms:
- usefulness, value, advantages, benefit, return, merits, virtue, note
- containing or intended for any of a building’s often-utility-related commodity transport, such as pipes or wires, or converting equipment, such as furnaces, water tanks or heaters, circuit breakers, central air conditioning units, laundry facilities, etc.
- utility room; utility corridor
- Functional rather than attractive.
- "Chocolate and cream," the standard colours of G.W.R. rolling stock for 21 years, are now being replaced by an all-over utility coating of reddish-brown. This is the third time that a uniform brown has been adopted as the standard livery of G.W.R. carriages.1943 March and April, “G.W.R. Rolling Stock Colours”, in Railway Magazine, page 106
utility meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
utility in Hindi
- utility, usefulness
- उपादेय upādey
utility in Tamil
- பயனுடை, பயனுடைமை, பயனுறுதன்மை, பயனோக்கம், பயன், பயன்பாடு
utility in Marathi
- utility, usefulness; the quality of being useful or serving a purpose
- उपयोग upayog
utility in Urdu
- فائدہ, کار, صرفہ
More languagesFewer languages
- utility in Bengali
- কাজের বস্তু, লাভের বস্তু, লাভ
- utility in Telugu
- ఉపయుక్తత
- utility in Malayalam
- സഹോപകാരികത, ഉപയോഗയോഗ്യത, അവശ്യവസ്തു, മേന്മ
- utility in Kannada
- ಬಳಕೆ, ಬಳಕೆಗೆ ಬೇಕಾದುದು
- utility in Punjabi
- ਉਪਯੋਗੀਤਾ
- utility in Gujarati
- ઉપયોગિતા
- utility in Odia
- ଉପଯୋଗିତା
- utility in Sanskrit
- उपयोग upayoga
- utility in Nepali
- उपयोगिता
- utility in Tagalog
- kagamitan, dahat
Examples of utility in a sentence
- With utility deregulation, undepreciated equipment which is now redundant may have to be allocated as stranded costs.
- He helped his daughter out financially, paying her rent and utilities, until she recovered from the accident.
- The utility will invest in power plants and transmission lines to ensure a stable power supply.
Synonyms of utility
Antonyms
Forms of utility
| plural | utilities |
|---|
Origin of utility
From Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile + -ity.
Words formed from utility
- Asian utility vehicle
- basic utility vehicle
- beautility
- coupé utility
- law of diminishing marginal utility
- marginal utility
- multiutility
- nonutility
- public utility
- public utility bus
- public utility jeepney
- public utility van
- public utility vehicle
- sport utility vehicle
- transaction utility
- unutility
- utilidor
- utilitarian
- utility ball
- utility bar
- utility belt
- utility bike
- utility calculus
- utility computing
- utility fog
- utility function
- utility furniture
- utility graph
- utility key
- utility knife
- utilitylike
- utility man
- utilityman
- utility model
- utility monster
- utility pigeon
- utility player
- utility pole
- utility program
- utility programme
- utility room
- utility sink
- utility task vehicle
- utility trailer
- utility truck
- utility vehicle
Phrases with utility
- utility men
- utility bars
- coupe utility
- utility balls
- utility belts
- utility bikes
- utility poles
- utility rooms
- utility sinks
- utility graphs
- utility knives
- utility models
18 more phrasesFewer phrases
- utility trucks
- utility pigeons
- utility players
- utility monsters
- utility programs
- utility trailers
- utility vehicles
- utility functions
- utility programmes
- public utility vans
- public utility buses
- utility task vehicles
- Asian utility vehicles
- basic utility vehicles
- sport utility vehicles
- public utility jeepneys
- public utility vehicles
- laws of diminishing marginal utility
Words that rhyme with utility
- sensibility
- facility
- ability
- disability
- compatibility
- possibility
- probability
- fertility
- fragility
- futility
- impossibility
- senility
36 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- virility
- vulnerability
- agility
- capability
- comfortability
- flexibility
- hostility
- improbability
- indomitability
- instability
- juvenility
- nobility
- stability
- accommodability
- affability
- backward compatibility
- backwards compatibility
- bouncebackability
- chewability
- creatability
- debility
- diffability
- ductility
- forward compatibility
- forwards compatibility
- fuckability
- humility
- impressionability
- ineffability
- irascibility
- manageability
- mutility
- tabability
- unassailability
- upward compatibility
- versatility
Questions about utility
- What does utility mean?
- Utility means the state or condition of being useful; usefulness.
- What is utility in Hindi?
- Utility in Hindi is उपादेय (upādey). See Utility meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is utility?
- Utility can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce utility?
- Utility is pronounced /juːˈtɪlɪti/ (UK).
- What is the plural of utility?
- The plural of utility is utilities.
Words near utility in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: utility (page history and authors); उपादेय (Hindi) (page history and authors); utility (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); उपयोग (Marathi) (page history and authors); utility (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); utility (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); utility (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); utility (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); utility (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); utility (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); utility (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); utility (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); utility (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-utility.wav.
Cite this entry: “utility.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/utility. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.