ANTI-UTOPIAN Synonyms: 56 Similar and Opposite Words

anti-utopian 1 of 2

adjective

as in dystopian

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anti-utopian

2 of 2

noun

as in nihilist

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of anti-utopian

Noun

This dreamscape of the island, like that of the jungle, illuminates in children’s literature a sense of utopia and longing about childhood as a not-quite-place, situated in an irretrievable past-yet-future, while at the same time rooted in an anti-utopian logic of adulthood. — Literary Hub, 17 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for anti-utopian

Adjective

Adapted from Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 novel of the same name, Klara and the Sun is set in a dystopian future and follows an obsolete companion android who attempts to bond with her new owner, Josie, a young girl dealing with an illness.

— Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 31 Oct. 2026
Presented amid fog and flashing lights outside Venice’s Lido Casino, the dystopian collection featured towering thigh-high platform boots resembling waders, an allusion to both the mythical river and the city’s rising waters.

— Livia Caligor, Vogue, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of dystopian

Noun

Life has beaten down Weisman’s Jake Levinson, once the radical front man of a bad Rage Against the Machine clone, into a dead-eyed nihilist.

— Judy Berman, Time, 11 Aug. 2026
As criminal cases have increased against members of violent nihilist groups, related abuse reports have also risen.

— Curt Devine, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026

Definition of nihilist

Noun

The middlebrow realist is a master technician, a superb replicator of experience, but neither more nor less than this.

— B. D. McClay, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
Not a pushover but a practical-minded realist, the chef takes the punches, striking up a booze-smuggling deal with the Americans to keep the orphans living in his restaurant safe.

— Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of realist

Noun

Williams led the Bears to an NFC North title and a playoff victory last season, but some cynics think the Bears are due for a regression this season.

— Dan Santaromita, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
That the earnestness the genre requires galls us cynics, who love to hide in our books, away from all those pesky bodies in the first place?

— Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of cynic

Noun

Russia’s pragmatist-in-chief has therefore settled on the Donbas as an attainable negotiating goal, while pressure grows on Kyiv to concede.

— Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026
While Skydance may have become the latest lightning rod in an increasingly polarised and under pressure Hollywood, Bird is a pragmatist.

— K.J. Yossman, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of pragmatist

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“Anti-utopian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/anti-utopian. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of anti-utopian

adjective

noun

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