utter1 adjectiveutter2 verb
utterut‧ter1 /ˈʌtə $ -ər/ ●○○ adjective [only before noun] 
WORD ORIGINutter1
Origin:
Old English utera ‘further out, outer’, from ut ‘out’EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- A specific point of view of a space, in a fleeting moment of time, could be held in utter stillness.
- He was forced to return to the earth alone, in utter desolation.
- Hence the complete and utter mental breakdown of whoever contracts the disease.
- Instead he would gaze at the jury, his face an impassive study in utter disbelief.
- She treated herself with what seemed like utter severity.
- They were ... yes I now concede, complete and utter bozos.
- We padded through those quiet, leafy roads in utter silence.
- When designer Rei Kawakubo tucks pillows under blouses and shows her collection in utter silence, simple clothes become disconcerting theater.
Longman Language Activatora complaint
· The carpet is completely ruined.· She felt completely relaxed.· Keith's dad was completely different from what I'd expected.· I intended to give you the card on Saturday but I completely forgot.· Sometimes the UK seems completely isolated from the main stream of European culture.
especially spoken say this when you strongly agree with something or approve of something, or to emphasize strong adjectives: absolutely right/correct: · You're absolutely right - we can't all fit in one car.absolutely marvellous/amazing/brilliant: · That's an absolutely brilliant idea.absolutely certain/sure: · Are you absolutely sure you don't mind?absolutely exhausted/soaked/ruined etc: · By the end of the day, I was absolutely exhausted.
use this especially to say that you have completely understood something or have everything that you need: fully understand/realize/appreciate: · I can fully understand your concern.fully aware/informed: · Please keep me fully informed of any developments.fully furnished/equipped: · The house is fully furnished, including washer and dryer.
use this especially to show that you completely disagree with something or that you are very annoyed about it: totally refuse/ignore/reject etc: · He totally ignored my advice.totally impossible/unacceptable/ridiculous etc: · What you're saying is totally ridiculous.· Myers said that a two-year prison sentence for rape was totally unacceptable and inadequate.
completely and in every possible way - use this especially in negative sentences, or with 'almost': · At the very beginning of the project, Paul made it clear that he would be entirely in control.not entirely: · I'm not entirely sure what she meant.· The reasons for his departure weren't entirely clear.consist entirely of: · The audience consisted almost entirely of journalists.depend entirely on: · The foundation depends entirely on voluntary contributions.
in every possible way - use this especially in negative sentences: not wholly responsible/reliable/committed etc: · The evidence we have is not wholly reliable.· The commission found that the officer on duty at the time was not wholly responsible.wholly unacceptable/unexpected/unfounded etc: · The city council's proposals are wholly unacceptable.· Help came from a wholly unexpected source.
use this especially to describe things that are completely wrong, untrue, impossible etc: utterly impossible/useless/worthless etc: · Without their help it would have been utterly impossible to arrange the conference.· Whether you like her or not is utterly irrelevant.utterly reject/spoil/destroy etc: · We utterly reject the philosophy of compulsory wage control.
use this to talk about an extreme situation or something extreme that someone has done: positively disgusting/harmful/dangerous etc: · The food in this place isn't just bad, it's positively disgusting.· Her performance was positively marvellous.
use this to emphasize how strong a feeling or quality is or how bad a situation is: · It was a complete surprise - I didn't have any idea they were planning a party.· Don't pay any attention to him - the guy's a total idiot!· Nobody can say with absolute certainty how much oil there is in Alaska.· By any measurement, our corrections program is an utter failure.
use this to say that something is true in every detail or part: · The two drawings are identical in every way.· The plans are unworkable in every respect.
use this when a word or phrase that you say is true in every possible way that it could be understood: · There are still men who want to be in every sense, the "head of the household'.in every sense of the word: · She was a true sportswoman -- a professional in every sense of the word.
if someone is good, bad etc through and through , every part of their character and behaviour shows that they are like that: · Don't trust him. He's rotten through and through.· Einstein was a realist through and through.· After 30 years in Queensland, he felt he was an Australian through and through.
: whole-heartedly agree/approve/support etc completely and willingly: · Her father whole-heartedly approved of their decision to get married.· Rowan whole-heartedly agreed that the company needed to do more to improve its ties to the community.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
That’s utter nonsense! This company treats its employees with utter contempt. I watched in complete and utter horror as he pulled out a gun.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES It’s an absolute disgrace, the way he treats his wife.
complete – used especially to emphasize that something is very bad, or that a feeling is very strong: That’s utter nonsense! This company treats its employees with utter contempt. I watched in complete and utter horror as he pulled out a gun. (=total chaos)· After the party, the whole house was in utter chaos.
· Candy's eyes showed her total confusion.
· Sally looked at him with utter contempt.
· Seeing the fields and mountains, she let out a cry of delight.
It’s an absolute disgrace, the way he treats his wife.· The project ended in total failure.
(=complete nonsense)· He said that the charges against him were absolute nonsense.
formal (=say a prayer)· When she recovered, she uttered a prayer of thanks.
· They sat in complete silence.· The silence in the room was absolute.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· But when she entered the house, she was confronted by a scene of utter chaos.· I went to rejoin the train and it was utter chaos.· It looked like utter chaos to me, but organised chaos.· She sat on the bed looking at the utter chaos around her.
· To another it might have seemed utter confusion, but Chen had been born here.· It was total and utter confusion.· At times these difficulties combined with a muddled administrative situation to produce utter confusion and dismay.
· Shortly after shooting them, Conroy displayed utter contempt for his two victims, the court heard.· Having won their votes from the gullible, as well as the dedicated, the republicans now show their utter contempt for democracy.· Treat him with the utter contempt he deserves.· Despite the profit-making prospects in this it has been treated with utter contempt on the grounds that charity begins at home.
· On the face of it they were an utter failure.· By his own criteria it was an utter failure.
· Still, he posed several questions that he said proved the plaintiffs' case was utter nonsense.
· To go on with the utter silence or to break the silence, pretending nothing had happened.· When designer Rei Kawakubo tucks pillows under blouses and shows her collection in utter silence, simple clothes become disconcerting theater.· He had gone from shouting to silence, utter silence, and had walked out of the house.· The utter silence fell like a loud explosion.· We padded through those quiet, leafy roads in utter silence.· The young people were draped about the furniture or lay in couples on the floor in utter silence whilst the firelight flickered.· But for the occasional bitow to the rear of the crowd, the Swan was a vacuum of utter silence.· For a moment there was utter silence.
That’s utter nonsense! This company treats its employees with utter contempt. I watched in complete and utter horror as he pulled out a gun. fifteen years of utter confusionutter1 adjectiveutter2 verb
utterutter2 ●○○ verb [transitive] formal WORD ORIGINutter2
Origin:
1300-1400 Middle Dutch uteren ‘to speak, make known’VERB TABLE
utter
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | utter |
| he, she, it | utters | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | uttered |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have uttered |
| he, she, it | has uttered | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had uttered |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will utter |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have uttered |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am uttering |
| he, she, it | is uttering | |
| you, we, they | are uttering | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was uttering |
| you, we, they | were uttering | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been uttering |
| he, she, it | has been uttering | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been uttering |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be uttering |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been uttering |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- No one had ever heard Thomas utter an unkind word.
- But as they passed him, their eyes and gestures... silently declared what their lips were forbidden to utter.
- I am not free to utter any fancied measurements I please.
- I we pointed out that deictic elements of the utterances can only be interpreted with respect to the context in which they are uttered.
- Speechreading develops a sensitive awareness of the speaker, not merely of the words he utters.
- The peasants, having just come out to the fields, turn back, uttering loud cries.
- When he did utter a word or two, rarely, his voice was coarse and stern.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Cantor nodded without uttering a word.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES It’s an absolute disgrace, the way he treats his wife.
1to say something: Cantor nodded without uttering a word. (=total chaos)· After the party, the whole house was in utter chaos.
· Candy's eyes showed her total confusion.
· Sally looked at him with utter contempt.
· Seeing the fields and mountains, she let out a cry of delight.
It’s an absolute disgrace, the way he treats his wife.· The project ended in total failure.
(=complete nonsense)· He said that the charges against him were absolute nonsense.
formal (=say a prayer)· When she recovered, she uttered a prayer of thanks.
· They sat in complete silence.· The silence in the room was absolute.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· The cat crouched uneasily in her arms, then uttered a curious low cry and struggled free.· Finally he made a noise, and Maritza turned around, uttered a little cry of thanks, and took the tissue.· Gilbert uttered a strangled cry and leapt to his feet with shadow reflections of crawling rain on his spectrally white face.· She uttered a great cry which reached up to the gods.· She put her hand to her mouth, uttered a mourning cry and ran through the swing door to her car.· Suddenly Dad uttered a sharp cry and staggered backwards, slumping against the wall.· When it arrived, they uttered a great cry of welcome.· The whole earth uttered a great cry.
· He would not utter those names lightly.· A moment later Charlie heard the colonel utter the name of Captain Guy Trentham.· It gave her infinite pleasure simply to utter Joss Barnet's name.
· Meanwhile, those garrulous starlets who utter a quotable phrase almost every time they open their mouths are few and far between.· When they do utter word phrases, they tend to omit the verb endings, most pronouns, and the conjunctions.
· On second thoughts, she wished she had not uttered the last sentence.· In order to utter meaningful sentences I must come to grasp my position as a speaker.· She could not utter a sentence for giving a tinkle of value to some innocent word.
· Paul Reichmann threw up his hands in protest at the suggestion, but did not utter a sound.· With that he killed man after man, so skillfully that not one uttered a sound as he died.· Dauntless merely uttered a gibbering sound and abandoned the argument.· When she saw the car Irina uttered an extraordinary sound, a long raucous rapturous cry.
· Jed began to know where Creed wanted to go without a word being uttered.· The first word I ever uttered was good-bye.· Speechreading develops a sensitive awareness of the speaker, not merely of the words he utters.· The magic words had been uttered.· These words, uttered by Baron Parke in an 1848 case, still hold good today.· Insolent words uttered in the arrogant consciousness of power were always heard in heaven and always punished.· Day after day reels of tape slowly turn, recording every word uttered along these lines of communication.· Try these strategies to prevent these words from ever being uttered:-First, make all rules absolutely clear!
VERB· A moment later Charlie heard the colonel utter the name of Captain Guy Trentham.· According to his lawyer, Brooks claims he heard some one utter the N-word, so he stepped on the gas.
‘You fool!’ she uttered in disgust. Cantor nodded without uttering a word.2to make a sound with your voice, especially with difficulty: The wounded prisoner uttered a groan.