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

John McKinney, 58, who leapfrogged to a second-place finish in the primaries amid a stoic, law-and-order campaign that sometimes slipped into Spencer Pratt-style dystopian imagery.

— Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
So the economic picture AI is helping to paint is more complex—and perhaps less dystopian—than the vision of fewer jobs and more concentrated wealth that has received the most media attention so far.

— Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 20 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 29 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of anti-utopian

adjective

noun

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