Sample Sentences for
utilitarian
(editor-reviewed)

utilitarian as in:  utilitarian furniture

Show 3 more sentences
  • My parents had raised me to recognize that automobiles are there to get you from point A to point B. They are utilitarian devices, not expressions of social status.  (source)
    utilitarian = designed for usefulness rather than beauty, style, or status
  • Surely such a utilitarian occupation as the watering of flowers is rather Moulton's duty than yours?  (source)
    utilitarian = useful, but without style
  • [regarding her favorite word] "I guess I've been living off words for so long it's hard to think about them beyond what's utilitarian."  (source)
    utilitarian = useful (rather than beautiful or aesthetic)
▲ show less (of above)
Show 10 more with 3 word variations
  • It was too tall, she would think, too unshapely, too ....utilitarian.†  (source)
  • For example, prompted by the sight of the star inserted in the Victory's quarter-deck designating the spot where the Great Sailor fell, these martial utilitarians may suggest considerations implying that Nelson's ornate publication of his person in battle was not only unnecessary, but not military, nay, savored of foolhardiness and vanity.†  (source)
  • As cultural ecologist Paul Shepard has observed, "The nomadic Bedouin does not dote on scenery, paint landscapes, or compile a nonutilitarian natural history…."  (source)
    nonutilitarian = designed for beauty or style rather than usefulness
    standard prefix: The prefix "non-" in nonutilitarian means not and reverses the meaning of utilitarian. This is the same pattern you see in words like nonfat, nonfiction, and nonprofit.
  • For me it's purely justice-not so much utilitarian, but aesthetic.†  (source)
  • But the extraordinary satisfactions of the steamy bathroom seemed to have evaporated as she shut the door, and the washing of her clothes, watching the turbid water flow from them down the drain of the bathtub, was disappointingly utilitarian.†  (source)
  • Once the armor is on, I strap on my weaponry: scims and daggers of Serric steel, razor-sharp and graceful, especially compared to the dull, utilitarian weapons we've used until now.†  (source)
  • Where the rest of our complex was beautifully decorated and maintained— manicured Japanese gardens next to the gym and spa, an indoor waterfall at the entrance, twenty-four-seven security guards—the basement was decidedly utilitarian.†  (source)
  • Hiro's been around the Metaverse long enough to know that despite the bright cheery appearance of this thing, it is, in fact, as simple and utilitarian as an Army camp.†  (source)
  • These were not the gray, utilitarian wagons I'd gotten used to seeing on Cairnholm, but like something from a circus, painted every color of the rainbow, sporting ornately carved roofs and doors, pulled by long-maned horses, and driven by men and women whose bodies fluttered with beaded necklaces and bright scarves.†  (source)
  • Only one person could have designed the outfit, at first glance utterly utilitarian, at second a work of art.†  (source)
▲ show less (of above)