utmost
Syllables: ut·mostUK/ˈʌtməʊ̯st//ˈʌtmoʊ̯st/
utmost is the superlative form of utter.
Meaning of utter
Adjective
utter (comparative (obsolete) uttermore, superlative utmost or uttermost)
- To the furthest or most extreme extent; absolute, complete, total, unconditional.
- utter bliss utter darkness utter ruin
- Of a substance: pure, unmixed.
- Two cups of utter silver wrought and rough with imagery / I give you, which my father took from wracked Arisbe's hold; […]1876, Virgil, “Book IX”, in William Morris, transl., The Æneids of Virgil: Done into English Verse, London: Ellis and White, […], →OCLC, page 254, lines 262–263
- Of decisions, replies, etc.: made in an unconditional or unqualified manner; decisive, definite.
- There could not then be any other eſtimate made of the loſs VValler ſuſtain'd, than by the not purſuing the viſible advantage he had, and by the utter refuſal of the Auxiliary Regiments of London and Kent, to march farther; […]1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, book VIII, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], volume II, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the...
- Further out than another thing; being the exterior or outer part of something; outer, outward; also, extremely remote.
- at the utter extremities of
- Antonyms:
- inner
- Preceding all others; original.
- And although it [Persia] has ſince then been ruined and reigned ouer by Princes of many Nations, yet they haue neuer altered the Dialect from its vtter ſence, at this day being cald Pharſee: […]1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “A Discourse of the Life and Habit of the Persians at this Present”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […]...
- Succeeding all others; final, last, ultimate.
- Our vtter houre is come alas, fell deſtinies death hath brought.1555 July (date written; Gregorian calendar), Virgil, “The Seconde Booke”, in Thomas Phaer, transl., The Seuen First Bookes of the Eneidos of Virgill, Conuerted in Englishe Meter […], London: […]...
Adjective
utmost (not comparable)
Noun
utmost (countable and uncountable, plural utmosts)
- The greatest possible capability, extent, or quantity; maximum.
- at the utmost to the utmost
- [...] I am reſolved to pluck up the heart of a man, and to try my utmoſt to get from under his hand.1680, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], 5th edition, Edinburgh: […] Iohn Cairns, […], →OCLC, page 116
- Synonyms:
- yondermost
Synonyms of utmost
Forms of utmost
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | uttermost |
| Noun | |
| plural | utmosts |
Origin of utmost
PIE word *úd From Middle English utmost, utemest [and other forms], from Old English ūtmest, ūtemest [and other forms], from ūt, ūte (“out; outdoors, outside”) + -mest (suffix meaning ‘furthest’, used to form superlatives of some adjectives) (and conflated with most). Ūt is derived from Proto-Germanic *ūt (“out, outward”), from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“out, outward”). Equivalent to out + -most.
Words formed from utmost
Phrases with utmost
Questions about utmost
- What does utmost mean?
- Utmost means the most extreme; greatest, ultimate.
- What is utmost the superlative form of?
- Utmost is the superlative form of utter.
- What part of speech is utmost?
- Utmost can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce utmost?
- Utmost is pronounced /ˈʌtməʊ̯st/ (UK).
Words near utmost in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: utmost (page history and authors); utter (page history and authors). 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: En-us-utmost.ogg.
Cite this entry: “utmost.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/utmost. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.