Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

1 ADJ [ADJ n] You can use utmost to emphasize the importance or seriousness of something or to emphasize the way that it is done. [EMPHASIS ] □  It is a matter of the utmost urgency to find out what has happened to these people. □  Security matters are treated with the utmost seriousness. □  You should proceed with the utmost caution.

2 N‑SING If you say that you are doing your utmost to do something, you are emphasizing that you are trying as hard as you can to do it. [FORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □  He would have done his utmost to help her, of that she was certain.

3 PHRASE If you say that something is done to the utmost , you are emphasizing that it is done to the greatest extent, amount, or degree possible. [EMPHASIS ] □  My limited diplomatic skills were tested to the utmost. □  The best plan is to continue to attack him to the utmost of our power.

uto|pia /juːtoʊ piə/ (utopias ) N‑VAR If you refer to an imaginary situation as a utopia , you mean that it is one in which society is perfect and everyone is happy, but which you feel is not possible. □  We weren't out to design a contemporary utopia. □  …the social utopias of revolutionary peasants.

uto|pian /juːtoʊ piən/

1 ADJ If you describe a plan or idea as utopian , you are criticizing it because it is unrealistic and shows a belief that things can be improved much more than is possible. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  He was pursuing a utopian dream of world prosperity. □  A complete absence of national border controls is utopian.

2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Utopian is used to describe political or religious philosophies which claim that it is possible to build a new and perfect society in which everyone is happy. [FORMAL ] □  His was a utopian vision of nature in its purest form.

ut|ter /ʌ tə ^r / (utters , uttering , uttered )

1 VERB If someone utters sounds or words, they say them. [LITERARY ] □ [V n] He uttered a snorting laugh. □ [V n] They departed without uttering a word.

2 ADJ [ADJ n] You use utter to emphasize that something is great in extent, degree, or amount. [EMPHASIS ] □  This, of course, is utter nonsense. □  …this utter lack of responsibility. □  A look of utter confusion swept across his handsome face.

ut|ter|ance /ʌ tərəns/ (utterances )

1 N‑COUNT [oft poss N ] Someone's utterances are the things that they say. [FORMAL ] □  …the Queen's public utterances. □  …a host of admirers who hung on her every utterance.

2 N‑UNCOUNT Utterance is the expression in words of ideas, thoughts, and feelings. [FORMAL ] □ [+ to ] I will give free utterance to my complaint.

ut|ter|ly /ʌ tə ^r li/ ADV [ADV with v] You use utterly to emphasize that something is very great in extent, degree, or amount. [EMPHASIS ] □  Everything about the country seemed utterly different from what I'd experienced before. □  The new laws coming in are utterly ridiculous.

U -turn (U-turns )

1 N‑COUNT If you make a U-turn when you are driving or cycling, you turn in a half circle in one movement, so that you are then going in the opposite direction.

2 N‑COUNT If you describe a change in a politician's policy, plans, or actions as a U-turn , you mean that it is a complete change and that they made the change because they were weak or were wrong. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [+ by ] …a humiliating U-turn by the party.

Vv

V , v /viː / (V's, v's )

1 N‑VAR V is the twenty-second letter of the English alphabet.

2V or v is an abbreviation for words beginning with v, such as 'verse', 'versus', 'very', and 'volt'. □  …England v France.

vac /væ k/ (vacs )

1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A vac is a period of the year when universities and colleges are officially closed. Vac is an abbreviation for 'vacation'. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □  …the summer vac.