Definition of UTMOST

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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

Luck’s injury is being handled like any other injury would be in the spring and summer—with the utmost care, given the acknowledgement that no one is playing a real game this weekend... or will for another dozen weekends. — Albert Breer, SI.com, "For Andrew Luck, It All Re-Starts Here," 18 June 2018 Readers were to be reminded that the army would take the utmost care to avoid civilian casualties. — The Economist, "Muzzling the mediaNo one in Turkey dares report accurately on the war in Syria," 1 Mar. 2018 Yields can be diminished and, without the utmost care, the quality of the wines can be harmed. — Eric Asimov, New York Times, "2014 Barbarescos: Triumphs and Question Marks," 8 Feb. 2018 Even if handled with the utmost care, fat is notoriously unpredictable. — Jolene Edgar, Town & Country, "The Most Overrated Cosmetic Procedures," 23 Sep. 2016 Playa Mujeres is located on a secluded peninsula for the utmost privacy, is a short 15-minute drive from Cancun and just a few miles from the Isla Mujeres and the Instagram-famous Tulum. — Elizabeth Gulino, House Beautiful, "These Tropical Homes in Mexico Have Their Own Private Rooftop Pool and Bar," 2 Apr. 2019 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

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The loyal citizens of San Diego, realizing that the veterans of the Civil war are fast passing and that this city may never again have the honor of entertaining them, are prepared to do their utmost for the aged guests. — Evening Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune, "From the Archives: 1924: San Diego hosts Civil War veterans," 9 June 2019 Britain’s Parliament has voted not to let the country leave the EU without a divorce agreement and will do its utmost to prevent a no-deal Brexit. — Washington Post, "What next for tumultuous UK Brexit path as May steps down?," 8 June 2019 But the Chinese government has done its utmost to censor what happened and is cracking down on a new batch of youth activists, many of whom have grown up without any knowledge of 1989. — latimes.com, "Today: The Echoes of Tiananmen," 3 June 2019 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

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.