# utopia

/juˈtoʊpiə/ (US) · /juːtˈəʊpiə/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/utopia
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 2. an unrealistic plan

noun · CEFR C1 · Academic

a plan or idea for a perfect world that is probably impossible to achieve.

For teachers: a visionary but usually impractical scheme for social improvement. In this sense, the term often carries a slight nuance of being unrealistic or unattainable.

- His idea for a city with no cars sounds like a utopia, but it might not work.
- Critics dismissed the candidate's economic policy as a mere utopia, arguing that it failed to account for the complexities of global trade.

## Examples

- The book describes a peaceful utopia where everyone is equal.
- Many early political thinkers wrote about a hidden utopia to criticize the problems they saw in their own real-world governments.
- While the architect envisioned the new city as a modern utopia, critics argued that such rigid planning ignored the messy, unpredictable nature of human social interaction.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.