Meanings
plural sport utility vehicles
- A passenger vehicle which combines the towing capacity of a pickup truck with the passenger-carrying space of a minivan or station wagon together with on- or off-road ability.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna high-performance four-wheel drive car built on a truck chassis
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Extant since the 1970s in the technical usage of the auto industry, where at the time it sometimes included a virgule as sport/utility vehicle; in common use among the general public since the early 1990s, when this class of vehicles first became widely popular as an alternative to station wagons and minivans.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 運動型多用途汽車 /运动型多用途汽车, 越野車 /越野车
- 運動型多用途汽車 /运动型多用途汽车 (yùndòngxíng duōyòngtú qìchē)vehicle
- 越野車 /越野车 (yuèyěchē)vehicle
- 越野車子 /越野车子 (ye'-iê-ciē-zø)vehicle
Czech sportovně-užitkový vůz
- sportovně-užitkový vůzvehicle
Danish semioffroader, cityjeep
- semioffroadervehicle
- cityjeepvehicle
Dutch SUV, asobak
- SUVvehicle
- asobakvehicle
- P.C. Hoofttractorvehicle
Finnish katumaasturi, city-maasturi
- katumaasturivehicle
- city-maasturivehicle
French véhicule utilitaire sport
- véhicule utilitaire sportvehicle
German Geländelimousine, Sport Utility Vehicle
- Geländelimousinevehicle
- Sport Utility Vehiclevehicle
Hungarian utcai terepjáró, szabadidő-autó
- utcai terepjáróvehicle
- szabadidő-autóvehicle
Icelandic jepplingur
- jepplingurvehicle
Italian SUV
- SUVvehicle
Japanese スポーツユーティリティビークル
- スポーツユーティリティビークル (supōtsu yūtiriti bīkuru)vehicle
Korean 스포츠 유틸리티 자동차, 스포츠 유틸리티 차량
- 스포츠 유틸리티 자동차 (seupocheu yutilliti jadongcha)vehicle
- 스포츠 유틸리티 차량 (seupocheu yutilliti charyang)vehicle
Norwegian Bokmål byjeep
- byjeepvehicle
Polish SUV
- SUVvehicle
Spanish vehículo utilitario deportivo (VUD)
- vehículo utilitario deportivo (VUD)vehicle
Swedish SUV stadsjeep
- SUV stadsjeepvehicle
Turkish spor amaçlı taşıt, sport utility vehicle
- spor amaçlı taşıtvehicle
- sport utility vehiclevehicle
Cite this entry
sport utility vehicle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sport%20utility%20vehicle
“sport utility vehicle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sport%20utility%20vehicle. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sport utility vehicle,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sport%20utility%20vehicle.
Source: sport utility vehicle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.