utter
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈʌtə/
ipa: [ˈɐtə]
ipa: /ˈʌtəɹ/
ipa: [ˈʌɾəɹ]
homophone: udder (flapping)
homophone: other (th-stopping + flapping)
rhymes: -ʌtə(ɹ)
Forms: form: uttermore
form: utmost
form: uttermost
Etymology: PIE word
 *úd
The adjective is derived from Middle English outre, utter, uttre (“situated on the outside of, exterior, external, outer; more advanced, further; farthest, outermost; complete, utter; of a person: inferior; not mental or spiritual, bodily, physical”), from Old English ūtera (“exterior, outer”, literally “more out”), the comparative form of ūt (“out”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“away; out, outward; upwards”). Piecewise doublet of outer.
The noun is derived from the adjective.
Senses: examples: text: utter bliss    utter darkness    utter ruin
text: Oh VVarvvicke, VVarvvicke, I foreſee vvith greefe / The vtter loſſe of all the Realme of France.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv], page 117, column 2:
text: But thou art altogether giuen ouer: and vvert indeede but for the light in thy face, the ſonne of vtter darkneſſe.
ref: c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], signature G2, verso:
text: [T]here are Phlegeton and Pyriphlegeton, that fall in vvith Cocytus (burning Riuers) In vvhich (tho they be dreadfull to looke vpon) are no vtter danger: If the Ferryman vvaft you ſafely, ouer the vvaters of Repentance, othervviſe theſe hot liquors vvill ſcalde you.
ref: 1606, Tho[mas] Dekker, “The Deuill Let Loose, with His Answere to Pierce Pennylesse”, in Newes from Hell; […], London: […] R. B[lower, S. Stafford, and Valentine Simmes] for W. Ferebrand, […], →OCLC, signature [G4], recto:
text: And ſhould Gods eare, / VVhich needs not man, be ty'd to thoſe / VVho heare not him, but quickly heare / His utter foes?
ref: [1633], George Herbert, “The Method”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC, page 127:
text: That vvhich I vvould novv infer from hence is, the utter impoſſibility of the Greeks giving us any certain account of ancient times, […]
ref: 1662, Edward Stillingfleet, “The Obscurity and Defect of Ancient History”, in Origines Sacræ, or A Rational Account of the Grounds of Christian Faith, […], London: […] R[obert] W[hite] for Henry Mortlock […], →OCLC, book I, page 21:
text: [T]he void profound / Of uneſſential Night receives him next / VVide gaping, and vvith utter loſs of being / Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature F, recto, lines 439–441:
text: Gentlemen, ye be utter ſtrangers to me, I knovv you not, be content to follovv the Religion of your Countrey, and I vvill follovv the Religion of mine. I hope all vvill be vvell.
ref: 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 163:
text: [I]n this Life Beaſts have, in many reſpects, the advantage of Men; in as much as they […] are utter Strangers to all thoſe Anxious and Tormenting Thoughts, which perpetually haunt and diſquiet Mankind.
ref: 1708, Francis Atterbury, “The Preface”, in Fourteen Sermons Preach’d on Several Occasions. […], London: […] E. P. [Edmund Parker?] for Jonah Bowyer, […], →OCLC, page vii:
text: [T]vvo Things that vvere his utter Averſion, the Inſinuation of a Flatterer, and the VVhiſper of a Tale-bearer.
ref: 1709, Mat[thew] Prior, “To the Right Honourable Lionel, Earl of Dorset and Middlesex”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page xiv:
text: [T]hey had no time to ſpeak, but I ſavv they vvere in utter amazement.
ref: 1778, [Frances Burney], “Letter XXI. Evelina in Continuation.”, in Evelina, or, A Young Lady’s Entrance into the World, volume I, London: […] T[homas] Lowndes, […], →OCLC, page 163:
text: Then, shall the slowly-gathering twilight close / In utter night; […]
ref: c. 1806–1809 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Book the Seventh. The Churchyard among the Mountains Continued.”, in The Excursion, being a Portion of The Recluse, a Poem, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], published 1814, →OCLC, page 326:
text: [T]hough restraint, utter and unrelaxing, can never be comely, this is not because it is in itself an evil, but only because, when too great, it overpowers the nature of the thing restrained, and so counteracts the other laws of which that nature is itself composed.
ref: 1849, John Ruskin, “The Lamp of Obedience”, in The Seven Lamps of Architecture, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, section I, page 184:
text: Then Enid, in her utter helplessness, / […] / Sent forth a sudden sharp and bitter cry, / As of a wild thing taken in the trap, / Which sees the trapper coming thro' the wood.
ref: 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 84:
text: Of course I couldnt hold you to our engagement after that. I was writing to you to break it off. […] You must think me an utter rotter.
ref: 1911 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Fanny’s First Play”, in Misalliance, The Dark Lady of the Sonnets, and Fanny’s First Play. […], London: Constable and Company, published 1914, →OCLC, Act III, page 200:
text: His eyes could not penetrate the darkness even to the distinguishing of his hand before his face, while the banths, he knew, could see quite well, though absence of light were utter.
ref: 1916 April 8–22, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Thuvia, Maid of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “The Fair Race”, in Thuvia, Maid of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., October 1920, →OCLC, page 65:
text: Yes. What fools we were to ruin it all. What utter, utter fools.
ref: 1930, Noël Coward, Private Lives: An Intimate Comedy in Three Acts, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, →OCLC, Act I, page 30:
synonyms: word: utmost
word: uttermost
word: crass
word: abject
word: frightful
word: absolute
word: arrant
word: categoric
word: categorical
word: complete
word: consummate
word: downright
word: full
word: full-blown
word: full-bore
word: full-on
word: mere
word: outright
word: out-and-out
word: perfect
word: proper
word: pure
word: rank
word: regular
word: right
word: root and branch
word: sheer
word: straight-out
word: thorough
word: thoroughgoing
word: total
word: unadulterated
word: unalloyed
word: unattenuated
word: uncompromising
word: unconditional
word: unfettered
word: unmitigated
word: unqualified
word: unreserved
word: unrestricted
word: utter
word: wholesale
glosses: To the furthest or most extreme extent; absolute, complete, total, unconditional.
examples: text: Two cups of utter silver wrought and rough with imagery / I give you, which my father took from wracked Arisbe's hold; […]
ref: 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:
synonyms: unalloyed
glosses: Of a substance: pure, unmixed.
examples: text: 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; […]
ref: 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: The Theater, page 475:
glosses: Of decisions, replies, etc.: made in an unconditional or unqualified manner; decisive, definite.
examples: text: at the utter extremities of
text: Wo be to you ſcrybꝭ [scrybis]⸝ ãd phariſes ypocritꝭ [ypocritis]⸝ for ye make clene the vtter ſide off the cuppe⸝ and off the platter: but with in they are full of brybery and exceſſe.
ref: 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew xxiij:[25], folio xxxiij, recto:
text: And vvhile you in Time of divine Sacrifice, do faithfully and humbly, both in Heart and utter Geſture, agnize, reverence, and adore the ſame Fleſh in Subſtance, altho' unviſibly in the Sacrament, […] you thus doing, blaſpheme ſo great Myſtery, repute the Fleſh vvhereby I vvas redeemed, and the Blood of Chriſt vvhereby I vvas to be ſanctified, as a Thing common and pollute; […]
ref: 1558 (date written), John Strype, quoting [John White], “Num[ber] LXXXI. A Sermon Preached at the Funerals of Queen Mary: By the Bishop of Winchester.”, in Historical Memorials, Ecclesiastical and Civil, of Events under the Reign of Queen Mary I. […], volume III, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson, for John Wyat, […], published 1721, →OCLC, page 279:
text: [A]n hidden moth / The inner garment frett, not th’vtter touch; […]
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 34, page 214:
text: Lyke the Geometritians, they ſquare about poynts and lynes, and the vtter ſhevv of things.
ref: 1593, Tho[mas] Nashe, Christs Teares Over Ierusalem. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, and are to be solde by Andrewe Wise, […], →OCLC, folio 68, verso:
text: So forth vvithout impediment I paſt, / Till to the Bridges vtter gate I came: […]
ref: 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IIII, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 12, page 142:
text: […] I, that knovv Truth to bee alvvaies of one ſtature, […] cannot but ſmile at their tyranous ignorance, that vvill offer to ſlight mee, […] and giue themſelues a peremptory licence to iudge, vvho haue neuer touch'd ſo much as to the barke or vtter ſhell of any Knovvledge.
ref: 1608 February 19 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Ben[jamin] Jonson, “The Description of the Masque. With the Nuptiall Songs. Celebrating the Happy Marriage of Iohn, Lord Ramsey, Vicount Hadington, with the Lady Elizabeth Ratcliffe, Daughter to the Right Honor[able] Robert, Earle of Sussex. […] [The Hue and Cry after Cupid]”, in The Characters of Two Royall Masques. The One of Blacknesse, the Other of Beautie. […], London: […] [George Eld] for Thomas Thorp[e], […], published [1608], →OCLC, signature [E4], recto:
text: And did Vlyſſes vvith all grace entreate: / Shevvd him a ſhore, vvind-proofe, and full of ſhade: / By him a ſhirt, and vtter mantle laid.
ref: 1614–1615, Homer, “The Sixth Booke of Homers Odysses”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC, page 93:
text: [I]n my [Satan's] flight / Through utter and through middle darkneſs borne / VVith other notes then to th' Orphéan Lyre / I ſung of Chaos and Eternal Night, […]
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signatures [H3], recto – [H3], verso, lines 15–18:
text: All stars are steps in the great scale of Heaven / Up to God's throne, from Time's last orb which eyes / The inner and the utter infinite […]
ref: 1848, Philip James Bailey, “Scene—A Ruined Temple”, in Festus: A Poem, 3rd edition, London: William Pickering, →OCLC, page 107:
antonyms: inner
qualifier: except literary
glosses: Further out than another thing; being the exterior or outer part of something; outer, outward; also, extremely remote.
examples: text: 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: […]
ref: 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, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC, page 144:
glosses: Preceding all others; original.
examples: text: Our vtter houre is come alas, fell deſtinies death hath brought.
ref: 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: […] Ihon Kyngston, for Richard Jugge, […], published 7 June 1558 (Gregorian calendar), →OCLC, signature [D.iij.], verso:
glosses: Succeeding all others; final, last, ultimate.
Derived terms: word: complete and utter
word: outer
word: utter bar
word: utter barrister
word: utterly
word: uttermore
word: uttermost
word: utterness
word: utterward