utopianism

noun uto·pi·an·ism \ yu̇-ˈtō-pē-ə-ˌni-zəm \

|Updated on: 5 Jun 2018

Definition of utopianism

1 : a utopian idea or theory

2 often capitalized : the body of ideas, views, or aims of a utopian

Recent Examples of utopianism from the Web

Her utopianism, so timely amid the catastrophes that still shake the world, particularly recommends this most personal of histories.

— New York Times, "Notes From the Book Review Archives," 11 May 2018
The lost souls for whom Theosophy was too outré and social utopianism too woolly-headed and political were a natural audience for Sister McPherson’s message.

— gary krist, Los Angeles Magazine, "Why a Legendary East Coast Evangelist Chose Los Angeles for Her Pentecostal Empire," 7 May 2018
So many of them were born from the militancy or utopianism of the 1960s.

— tony adler, Chicago Reader, "The inchoate new MPAACT show Blood Mural misses what’s right in front of it," 25 Apr. 2018
This makes one of Kaplan’s final chapters, on the dangers of a new utopianism, all the more chilling.

— bret stephens, New York Times, "Foreign Policy From the Dark Side," 28 Mar. 2018
If the utopia that was meant to be America by its early settlers has failed, my guess is that Mr. Fraser would argue this is no reason to eschew the dream of utopianism generally.

— joseph epstein, WSJ, "‘Class Matters’ Review: The American Dream as Nightmare," 22 Mar. 2018
The citizens’ councils, designed as visions of democratic utopianism, hold little power.

— max fisher, amanda taub and dalia martÍnez, New York Times, "Losing Faith in the State, Some Mexican Towns Quietly Break Away," 7 Jan. 2018
At the center of this fractured saga, whose companion pieces will touch on American utopianism and the birth of 20th-century industrialism, is the eponymous Lydie Breeze.

— julia m. klein, Philly.com, "'Cold Harbor' at EgoPo: Long, messy 'Lydie Breeze' slog begins the John Guare Festival," 4 Feb. 2018
That legacy of dreamy utopianism continues to inform the tech industry’s self-perception, even as its financial imperatives collide with its politics.

— vanityfair.com, "Why Zuckerberg’s New Immigration Activism Rings Hollow," 20 Oct. 2017

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

First Known Use of utopianism

1649

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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