All 4 Uses of
utilitarian
in
The House of Mirth
- As her social talents, backed by Mr. Trenor's bank-account, almost always assured her ultimate triumph in such competitions, success had developed in her an unscrupulous good nature toward the rest of her sex, and in Miss Bart's utilitarian classification of her friends, Mrs. Trenor ranked as the woman who was least likely to "go back" on her.†
Chpt 1.4
- There had been a germ of truth in his declaration to Gerty Farish that he had never wanted to marry a "nice" girl: the adjective connoting, in his cousin's vocabulary, certain utilitarian qualities which are apt to preclude the luxury of charm.†
Chpt 1.14
- Under the utilitarian motive of Rosedale's wooing she had felt, clearly enough, the heat of personal inclination.†
Chpt 2.5 *
- The luxury of lying late in bed was a pleasure belonging to the life of ease; it had no part in the utilitarian existence of the boarding-house.†
Chpt 2.11
Definition:
-
(utilitarian as in: utilitarian furniture) concerned with usefulness rather than beauty, style, or philosophical purity -- with the goal of increasing general happiness or well-being