Skip to content

utopie

utopia

noun y-toh-PEE Rare

Origin: From Thomas More's 1516 Latin coinage 'Utopia', from Greek 'ou-topos' meaning 'no-place'.

Usage Note

Utopie can denote either More's fictional ideal society or, more broadly, any impractical ideal scheme. The derived adjective utopique ('utopian') is very common. In everyday French, calling an idea une utopie is often a polite way of saying it is naive or unrealisable.

Examples

"La paix mondiale reste une utopie pour certains."

Natural Translation

World peace remains a utopia for some.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore French by topic