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utmost

ut·most

UK/ˈʌtməʊ̯st/ US/ˈʌtməst/ fairly common
adjective (3) noun (1)

adjective

1.

of the greatest possible degree or extent or intensity

  • “extreme cold”
  • “extreme caution”
  • “extreme pleasure”
  • “utmost contempt”
  • “to the utmost degree”
  • “in the uttermost distress”
Synonyms
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2.

highest in extent or degree

  • “to the last measure of human endurance”
  • “whether they were accomplices in the last degree or a lesser one was...to be determined individually”
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3.

(comparatives of `far'') most remote in space or time or order

  • “had traveled to the farthest frontier”
  • “don”
  • “;”
  • “;”
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noun

1.

the greatest possible degree

  • “he tried his utmost”
Synonyms

Origin

PIE word *úd From Middle English utmost, utemest [and other forms], from Old English ūtmest, ūtemest [and other forms], from ūt, ūte (“out; outdoors, outside”) + -mest (suffix meaning ‘furthest’, used to form superlatives of some adjectives) (and conflated with most). Ūt is derived from Proto-Germanic *ūt (“out, outward”), from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“out, outward”). Equivalent to out + -most.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.