ute

U1T1E1
/juːt//ˈjuːt/

noun

A small vehicle based on the same platform as a family car but with a unibody construction and a built-in open tray area for carrying goods; similar but not identical to a pick-up truck.

Less commonScrabble 3

Meanings

ute1

nounute (plural utes)

plural utes

  1. AustraliaNew ZealandautomotiveA small vehicle based on the same platform as a family car but with a unibody construction and a built-in open tray area for carrying goods; similar but not identical to a pick-up truck.

    Paramedics rushed Melissa Dennis to the Royal Adelaide hospital with serious injuries after she was hit by a ute at Medindie on Saturday night.

    2023 December 31, Matthew Weaver, “Rohan Dennis charged over death of wife, fellow cyclist Melissa Dennis”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
    3 more examples

    The Reverend John Flynn, a man of simple tastes, was always recognisable in the outback, dressed in a suit, driving an old ute and puffing on a pipe.

    2007, Sheryl Persson, The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, Australia: Exisle Publishing, →ISBN, page 40

    Still, given the choice between being stuck behind a ute in tropical scenery and spending four to five hours driving through stretches of semi-desert, I′d rather have the ute-plus-heart-attack.

    2008, Penelope Adams, Why Women Are Stupid, Lulu, →ISBN, page 105

    A sample body was made in 1933 and the first utilities, or ‘utes’, rolled off the production line next year. Dubbed ‘the Kangaroo Chaser’ by Henry Ford when Bandt displayed two examples in Detroit, United States of America, in 1935, the ute was quickly recognised as the ideal farmers' vehicle.

    2009, Damian Veltri, “Bandt, Louis (Lewis) Thornett (1910–1987)”, in Dianne Lingmore, Darryl Bennet, editors, Australian Dictionary of Biography, volume 17 1981–1990: A–K, →ISBN, page 55

Ute2

nounUte (plural Utes or Ute)

plural Utes

  1. A member of a Native American people of Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.
proper noun
  1. The language of this people, of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family.

    Synonyms: Colorado River, Colorado River Numic

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounThe language of this people, of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family.

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe Shoshonean language spoken by the Utes

Similar
Ute language
Broader
Uto-AztecanUto-Aztecan language

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

ute · noun

Clipping of utility vehicle, originating from the 1930s term coupé utility.

Full word history & related roots →

Ute · noun, proper noun

  1. SpanishYuta
  2. EnglishUte

From Utah, from Spanish Yuta, of Pueblo and/or Apache origin.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Russian юте
  • юте (jute)language

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with ute

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

ute. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ute

MLA

“ute.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ute. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ute,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ute.

Source: ute on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.