Meanings
ute1
plural utes
- 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, →ISSN3 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 40Still, 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 105A 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
plural Utes
- A member of a Native American people of Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.
- 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
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
- SpanishYuta
- EnglishUte
From Utah, from Spanish Yuta, of Pueblo and/or Apache origin.
More words from Spanish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Russian юте
- юте (jute)language
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ute
Anagrams
Cite this entry
ute. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ute
“ute.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ute. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ute,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ute.
Source: ute on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.