utmost

CEFRC1

/ˈʌtməʊ̯st/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Greatest in amount, degree, or importance.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    The greatest possible capability, extent, or quantity; maximum.

Examples

  • I was treated with the utmost courtesy by the staff.

  • Let's take the utmost caution against errors.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
4
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈət-]
  • /ˈʌtmoʊ̯st/

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. The most extreme; greatest, ultimate.

  2. superlative form of utter: most utter; situated at the most distant limit; farthest, outermost.

More examples

In context

  • He treated it with utmost care.

  • the utmost extent of human knowledge

  • the utmost limits of the land

Synonyms

Quick test

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Nearby

Origin

adjective

PIE word *úd From Middle English utmost, utemest [and other forms], from Old English ūtmest, ūtemest [and other forms], from ūt, ūte (“out; outdoors, outside”) + -mest (suffix meaning ‘furthest’, used to form superlatives of some adjectives) (and conflated with most). Ūt is derived from Proto-Germanic *ūt (“out, outward”), from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“out, outward”). Equivalent to out + -most.