“Up,” “ut” and away

March 20th, 2009 at 07:00am Barry Wood

I recently encountered the phrase “the upmost confidence.” The correct word is “utmost.”

The confusion is understandable. It probably is heavily influenced by “uppermost,” which is defined as “highest in place, position, power, authority, influence, etc.; topmost; predominant; foremost.”

“Upper” gives it a sense of height.

The adjective “utmost” is also a superlative. But instead of “highest” or “tops,” it means “farthest” or “greatest.”

That “ut” is from the Old English for “out.” So “utmost” is out there, not up there.

As we used to say in the ’60s, far out.

Entry Filed under: word choices