utilitarian

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun someone who believes that the value of a thing depends on its utility
  2. adjective having a useful function
  3. adjective having utility often to the exclusion of values

Etymology

From utility + -arian. Coined by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham as early as 1781, and popularized by his student John Stuart Mill, who mistakenly attributed the term to John Galt.

In classic literature

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