'Utilitarian' definitions:
Definition of 'utilitarian'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Having a useful function; "utilitarian steel tables" [syn: utilitarian, useful]
adjective
Having utility often to the exclusion of values; "plain utilitarian kitchenware"
noun
Someone who believes that the value of a thing depends on its utility
Definition of 'Utilitarian'
From: GCIDE
- Utilitarian \U*til`i*ta"ri*an\, n. One who holds the doctrine of utilitarianism. [1913 Webster]
- The utilitarians are for merging all the particular virtues into one, and would substitute in their place the greatest usefulness, as the alone principle to which every question respecting the morality of actions should be referred. --Chalmers. [1913 Webster]
- But what is a utilitarian? Simply one who prefers the useful to the useless; and who does not? --Sir W. Hamilton. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Utilitarian'
From: GCIDE
- Utilitarian \U*til`i*ta"ri*an\, a. [See Utility.] [1913 Webster]
- 1. Of or pertaining to utility; consisting in utility; ?iming at utility as distinguished from beauty, ornament, etc.; sometimes, reproachfully, evincing, or characterized by, a regard for utility of a lower kind, or marked by a sordid spirit; as, utilitarian narrowness; a utilitarian indifference to art. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Of or pertaining to utilitarianism; supporting utilitarianism; as, the utilitarian view of morality; the Utilitarian Society. --J. S. Mill. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'utilitarian'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- advantageous,
- animist,
- animistic,
- appropriate,
- atomistic,
- banausic,
- beneficial,
- breadwinning,
- businesslike,
- commercial,
- commodious,
- cosmotheistic,
- Cyrenaic,
- down-to-earth,
- eclectic,
- Eleatic,
- empirical,
- employable,
- Epicurean,
- eudaemonistic,
- existential,
- expedient,
- fitting,
- functional,
- good for,
- hard,
- hedonic,
- hedonist,
- hedonistic,
- helpful,
- humanist,
- humanistic,
- idealistic,
- instrumentalist,
- materialistic,
- matter-of-fact,
- mechanistic,
- Megarian,
- metaphysical,
- moneymaking,
- monistic,
- naturalistic,
- nominalist,
- of general utility,
- of help,
- of service,
- of use,
- panlogistical,
- pantheistic,
- positivist,
- positivistic,
- practical,
- pragmatic,
- pragmatical,
- pragmatist,
- proper,
- prosaic,
- rationalistic,
- realist,
- realistic,
- scholastic,
- sensationalistic,
- serviceable,
- Stoic,
- syncretistic,
- theistic,
- transcendentalist,
- transcendentalistic,
- unidealistic,
- unromantic,
- useful,
- vitalistic,
- voluntarist,
- voluntaristic,
- workaday,
- workday,
- working