utmost

adjective

ut·most | \ ˈət-ˌmōst

, especially Southern -məst\

Definition of utmost

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : situated at the farthest or most distant point : extreme the utmost point of the earth— John Hunt

2 : of the greatest or highest degree, quantity, number, or amount a matter of utmost concern

utmost

noun

Definition of utmost (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : the most possible : the extreme limit : the highest attainable point or degree the utmost in reliability

2 : the highest, greatest, or best of one's abilities, powers, and resources will do our utmost to help

Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about utmost

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Did You Know?

Adjective

Utmost traces back to the Old English Ūtmest, a superlative adjective formed from the adverb Ūt, meaning "out." Ūtmest eventually evolved into utmost, perhaps influenced by the spelling of the word most. Not surprisingly, the earlier sense of utmost carries the same meaning as outermost. The second sense of utmost, meaning "of the greatest or highest degree," first appeared in English in the 14th century but didn't see frequent use until almost 400 years later. A related word is utter, meaning "absolute" or "total," as in the phrase utter chaos; it comes from Old English utera, meaning "outer," and ultimately from Ūt.

Examples of utmost in a Sentence

Adjective

supreme power that extended to the utmost points of the empire inhabitants of the war-ravaged region are experiencing the utmost misery imaginable

Noun

This new system represents the utmost in modern technology. It's designed to provide the utmost in comfort. We had to push ourselves to the utmost to finish the job in time.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

The books are, in my opinion, of the utmost importance, including Epicurus’s Letter on Happiness, Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy and Yourcenar’s Memoirs of Hadrian. — Brunello Cucinelli, WSJ, "Brunello Cucinelli Shares a Few of His Favorite Things," 5 Mar. 2019 Her four colleagues, Ms. Allen in particular, support her with the utmost sensitivity. — Terry Teachout, WSJ, "‘The Waverly Gallery’ Review: A Harrowingly Honest, yet Humorous, Group Portrait," 25 Oct. 2018 This is the slow food crowd, artists of the earth whose goal is to treat these treasures with the utmost respect, preserving their purity by serving them in the simplest possible fashion. — Ruth Reichl, Town & Country, "This Scarlet Prawn Is the Best Seafood You Can Eat," 30 Jan. 2019 Insulin is a shining example of why drugs deserve the utmost patent protection to encourage continual innovation. — WSJ, "Would Drug Price Controls Kill Innovation?," 14 Jan. 2019 If piloting a 130-ton machine requires a deft touch to avoid lurching the train and jarring passengers, the utmost priority is in watching the tracks ahead, both Davises said. — Kevin Spear, OrlandoSentinel.com, "SunRail trains driven by women engineers for 1st time," 30 May 2018 Trying to avoid the food that triggers your allergy is obviously important, but even with the utmost vigilance, accidental exposures can still happen, Dr. Fadugba explains. — Korin Miller, SELF, "Bethenny Frankel’s Allergic Reaction Was So Severe She 'Thought She Had a Stroke'," 18 Dec. 2018 And the reunification of Germany was also a spectacular event, both of which had to be handled with the utmost skill, delicacy, firmness and knowledge. — Chloe Foussianes, Town & Country, "Why Brian Mulroney, Former Canadian Prime Minister, Will Speak at George H.W. Bush's Funeral," 4 Dec. 2018 It’s built to lap motocross tracks at utmost speed. — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, "The Last Real Sport Quad: Joy, Fear, and the Yamaha 450R SE," 20 Nov. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

In response, decent, smart people were trying their utmost to help them. — Rhonda Garelick, The Cut, "The Thai Cave Rescue Cannot Save Us From National Shame," 11 July 2018 At every Hal Smith Restaurant, the safety of our guests and employees is our utmost concern. — Elizabeth Chuck /, NBC News, "Gunman opens fire in Oklahoma City restaurant — is shot dead by bystanders," 25 May 2018 If range anxiety and the need to road trip an EV is your utmost concern, then stick to Elon's Muskmobiles. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, "Forget about that Tesla—the Jaguar I-Pace is the most compelling EV yet," 14 June 2018 Having scored four against the Foxes last season, Kane and his Tottenham teammates will be doing their utmost to ensure that history does in fact repeat itself. — SI.com, "Tottenham Hotspur vs Leicester City Match Preview: Classic Encounter, Key Battle, Team News & More," 12 May 2018 Juve did their utmost to turn the tide, and Handanovic had to make a smart low save against Costa and a brilliant stop from substitute Paulo Dybala's fine free kick. — SI.com, "Juventus Comes Back From 2-1 Deficit to Beat 10-Man Inter," 28 Apr. 2018 Our family would like to express their utmost regret, sorrow for what happened to innocent victims. — Richard Winton, latimes.com, "Nasim Aghdam raged at YouTube, but her family is stunned it ended in gunfire," 5 Apr. 2018 At Lufthansa Group, the safety, health and security of our passengers is the utmost of importance and a first priority. — Alexandra Deabler, Fox News, "Dog stranded in Germany after airline deems him unfit to fly because of 'panicked reaction'," 29 Mar. 2018 The safety of our students and staff is our utmost priority. — David Anderson, The Aegis, "Police investigate report of written threat made at Aberdeen High School," 31 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'utmost.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.