utter

• utter bliss utter darkness utter ruin
• Oh VVarvvicke, VVarvvicke, I foreſee vvith greefe / The vtter loſſe of all the Realme of France. - 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies,...
• But thou art altogether giuen ouer: and vvert indeede but for the light in thy face, the ſonne of vtter darkneſſe. - c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition,...

Synonyms: utmost uttermost crass abject frightful absolute arrant categoric categorical complete consummate decided downright full full-blown full-bore full-on mere outright out-and-out perfect precious proper pure

• Two cups of utter silver wrought and rough with imagery / I give you, which my father took from wracked Arisbe's hold; […] - 1876, Virgil, “Book IX”, in William Morris, transl., The Æneids of Virgil: Done into English...

Synonyms: unalloyed unprocessed raw coarse crude natural pure pristine unmixed unrefined untouched untreated utter

• There could not then be any other eſtimate made of the loſs VValler ſuſtain'd, than by the not purſuing the viſible advantage he had, and by the utter refuſal of the Auxiliary Regiments of London and Kent, to march...

• at the utter extremities of
• Wo be to you ſcrybꝭ [scrybis]⸝ ãd phariſes ypocritꝭ [ypocritis]⸝ for ye make clene the vtter ſide off the cuppe⸝ and off the platter: but with in they are full of brybery and exceſſe. - 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.],...
• And vvhile you in Time of divine Sacrifice, do faithfully and humbly, both in Heart and utter Geſture, agnize, reverence, and adore the ſame Fleſh in Subſtance, altho' unviſibly in the Sacrament, […] you thus doing,...

Antonyms: inner

• And although it [Persia] has ſince then been ruined and reigned ouer by Princes of many Nations, yet they haue neuer altered the Dialect from its vtter ſence, at this day being cald Pharſee: […] - 1634, T[homas]...

• Our vtter houre is come alas, fell deſtinies death hath brought. - 1555 July (date written; Gregorian calendar), Virgil, “The Seconde Booke”, in Thomas Phaer, transl., The Seuen First Bookes of the Eneidos of Virgill,...

• A strawe, sayde Bele, stande vtter, / For we haue egges and butter, / And of pygeons a payre. - c. 1517 (date written; published c. 1545), John Skelton, “Here after Foloweth the Booke Called Elynour Rummynge. The...
• Gyue this gentylman rome, syrs, stonde vtter! - a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Magnyfycence, a Goodly Interlude and a Mery, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I,...

• I knovv they vvill deny me gracious Madame, / Being a ſtranger, and ſo little fam'd / So vtter emptie of theſe excellencies / That tame authority; […] - 1612 January 5 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Francis...

• I take my leave, readie to countervaile all your courtesies to the utter of my power. - 1584 August 4 (date written; Gregorian calendar), John Aubrey, quoting Walter Raleigh, “Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618)”, in Andrew...

• Don’t you utter another word!
• I utter my langage or my voyce Ie profere, prime cõiuga. After your audyence utter your langage: Selon voſtre audiẽce profere; voſtre langaige. - 1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John...
• VViſdome cryeth vvithout: ſhe vttereth her voyce in the ſtretes. - 1560, [William Whittingham et al., transl.], The Bible and Holy Scriptures Conteyned in the Olde and Newe Testament. […] (the Geneva Bible), Geneva: […]...

Synonyms: let out say speak articulate babble blab chat chatter converse discuss jabber moot open one's mouth talk verbalize yak yap yammer

1. (transitive) Sometimes preceded by forth, out, etc.: to produce (a cry, speech, or other sounds) with the voice.

2. (transitive) To verbally express or report (a desire or emotion, an idea or thought, etc.).

   • Theeſe woords, vplifting both his hands, he to Iuppiter vttred. - 1582, Virgil, “The Fourth Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie...
   • VVhom ſhe all careleſſe of his griefe conſtrayned / to vtter forth th' anguiſh of his hart: […] - 1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet XLVIII”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […]...
   • A clap thy ſelfe my Loue; then didſt thou vtter, / I am yours for euer. - c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First...

   Synonyms: declare say tell

3. (transitive) (reflexive) To express (oneself) in speech or writing.

   • [N]ovv and then nature is a fault, and this good gueſt of ours takes ſoyle in an unperfect body, and ſo is ſlackned from ſhevving her vvonders, like an excellent Muſician vvhich cannot utter himſelf upon a defective...
   • [A]t present several of our men of the town, and particularly those who have been polished in France, make use of the most coarse uncivilized words in our language, and utter themselves often in such a manner as a clown...
   • I had tried to write a poetical epitaph, but in vain: my feelings refused to utter themselves in rhyme. - 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Grave Reflections of a Disappointed Man”, in Tales of a...

4. (transitive) (figurative) Of a thing: to produce (a noise or sound); to emit.

   • Sally’s car uttered a hideous shriek when she applied the brakes.

   Synonyms: let out

5. (transitive) (obsolete) To disclose or reveal (something secret or unknown); to bring to light.

   • He that vttereth my counſayle ones I wyll neuer truſte hym whyle I lyue: […] - 1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue...
   • Silanus the Sooth-ſayer, vvho had vttered Xenophons purpoſe, vvas hereby ſtaied from out-running his fellovves, and driuen to abide vvith his vvealth among poore men, longer than ſtood vvith his good liking. - 1614,...
   • [W]ith vvhat gravity and Majeſty of ſpeech his Tongue and Pen uttered Heavenly Myſteries; […] - 1670, Izaak Walton, quoting John Spenser, “The Life of Mr. Rich[ard] Hooker, the Author of Those Learned Books of the Laws...

6. (transitive) (obsolete, also reflexive) To disclose or reveal the identity or nature of (oneself or someone, or something).

   • [W]hẽ the vnclene ſpritꝭ ſawe him⸝ they fell doune before him⸝ and cryed ſayinge: thou arte the ſonne of God: And he ſtreyghtly charged thẽ that they ſhulde not vtter him. - 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe...
   • And Joſeph coude no longer refrayne before all them that ſtode about him⸝ but commaunded that they ſhuld goo all out from him⸝ and that there ſhuld be no man with him, whyle he vttred him ſelfe [i.e., disclosed his true...
   • [T]he holy euangelyſt ſaynt John, whome Chriſte ſo tenderly loued, […] and to hym ſecretely he vttred the falſe diſſimuled traytor [Judas Iscariot], […] declareth here what a maner of faithful louer our holy ſauyour...

7. (transitive) (obsolete, also reflexive) To display or show (itself or something).

   • [H]e [Jesus] ſhewed and vſed hymſelfe the moſte loweſt and meaneſte of al creatures, yet dyd he hyde within hym a ſecrete power of the nature of the godhed, which thã [than (i.e., then)] ⁊ neuer afore vttred it ſelfe,...
   • […] Iuno, the Princeſſe, / Theare the pate, in digging, of an horſe intractabil vttred. - 1582, Virgil, “The Firste Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis,...

8. (intransitive) To speak.

   • The Souereyne and vnutterable God, is the Originall of all things; next vnto vvhom is his Prouidence as a ſecond God, vvho giueth the lavv aſvvell for the temporall as for the eternall life. And furthermore, there is a...
   • Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conſcience, above all liberties. - 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the...
   • "Don’t worry about me," he uttered with minimum lip movement. - 1995, Rohinton Mistry, “The Bright Future Clouded”, in A Fine Balance, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, →ISBN, page 528:

9. (intransitive) Of words, etc.: to be spoken.

   • [Y]ea many gods, / Had voices more than all the winds, with power / To exhilarate the spirit, and to soothe, / Through every clime, the heart of human kind. / While this was uttering, strange as it may seem, / I...

• [Y]ᵉ same [the book] was well vtteryd by yᵉ printar, & well lyked of in yᵉ comon weale, […] - a. 1606 (date written), John Stow, “Introduction [Appendix to Introduction: How Stow Began to Write History, and Quarrelled...

1. (transitive) (archaic, rare) To publish (something).

2. (transitive) (law) To put (currency or other valuable items) into circulation; specifically, to pass off (counterfeit currency, etc.) as legal tender; to use (a forged cheque) as if genuine.

   • […] Her Maiestie now vnderstandynge, that there are sithens that tyme certayne other forrayne peeces of golde, of the like quantitie and fashion (although of lesse value) lyke to an Englyshe Angell, brought hyther, and...
   • […] Memory, which laying by, preſeruing and imprinting in it ſelfe al the Images and formes of viſible & intelligible things, could not vtter them in time conuenient and diſpoſe them to the tongue and penne, vnleſſe it...
   • [T]he variouſly denominated Attic Obolus, vvith the Head of Minerva and Noctua, of as vulgar Uſe as our Farthings, but hardly by half ſo large as the Tokens vvhich every Tavern and Tippling-Houſe (in the days of late...

   Synonyms: circulate

3. (transitive) (law) To put (currency or other valuable items) into circulation; specifically, to pass off (counterfeit currency, etc.) as legal tender; to use (a forged cheque) as if genuine.

   (figurative) To pass off (something fake) as a genuine item.

   • Centaure, hovv our iudgements vvere impos'd on by theſe adulterate knights! / Cen[taure]. Nay, madame, Mavis vvas more deceiu'd then vve, 'tvvas her commendation vtter'd 'hem in the colledge. - 1609 December (first...
   • [T]he great bards / Of Greece, of Rome, and mine own master land, / […] / Men who have forged gods—uttered—made them pass: […] - 1839, [Philip James Bailey], “Scene—Another and a Better World”, in Festus: A Poem,...

   Synonyms: circulate

4. (transitive) (obsolete) To supply (something); to furnish, to provide.

   • [T]he mixt earth, vvhich vtters VVhinns, Briars, and a vvorld of ſuch like vnnatural and baſtardly Iſſues. - 1625, Gervase Markham, “The Nature of Grounds in Generall: But Particularly of the Barren and Sterile Earth”,...

5. (transitive) (obsolete) To offer (something, such as goods) for barter or sale; also, to sell (something); to vend.

   • […] certayne Merchants […] obteyned licence ſafely to arriue here in Ireland with their wares, and to vtter the ſame. - 1577, Raphaell Holinshed; Richarde Stanyhurst [i.e., Richard Stanihurst], “The Historie of Irelande...
   • Such mortall drugs I haue, but Mantuas lavve / Is death to any he that vtters them. - c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Iuliet. […] (Second Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for...
   • Beautie is bought by iudgement of the eye, / Not vttred by baſe ſale of chapmens tongues: […] - c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors...

6. (transitive) (obsolete, rare) To announce that (something) is available for sale; to cry.

   • [Y]ou are […] compelled, during the whole morning, to undergo that savage jargon of yells, brays, and screams, familiarly, but feebly, termed, "the Cries of London"— […] your utter incapability of ever arriving at the...

7. (transitive) (obsolete, rare) To distribute or issue (something) from, or as if from, a stock of items.

   • He had alſo ſet a prieſt of his and a ſeculer ſeruaunt of his beſyde to by [buy] many of the ſame ſuyte [of books], & double and treble of one ſorte, whiche were by thẽ [them] vttred to diuers yonge ſcholers ſuch as...

8. (transitive) (obsolete except UK, dialectal) To discharge or send out (something); to eject, to emit.

   • God proſper you, to the uttering all hollovv Harts of England. - 1536 December 22 (date written; Gregorian calendar), John Strype, quoting Hugh Latimer, “A Visitation of the Religious Houses. […]”, in Ecclesiastical...
   • As fier being encloſed in a ſtraite place, wil by force vtter his flãme, […] ſo thys cãcard crocodrile, ⁊ ſubtile ſerpent, could not lõg lurke in malicious hartes, nor venemous ſtomackes, but in cõcluſion ſhe muſt...
   • Seeſt not thilke ſame Hawthorne ſtudde, / How bragly it beginnes to budde, / And vtter his tender head? - 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “March. Ægloga Tertia.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London:...

9. (intransitive, obsolete) Of goods: to be purchased; to sell.

   • This crockery is popular and utters well.