What's the difference between utopian and visionary?

Utopian


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or pertaining to Utopia; resembling Utopia; hence, ideal; chimerical; fanciful; founded upon, or involving, imaginary perfections; as, Utopian projects; Utopian happiness.
  • (n.) An inhabitant of Utopia; hence, one who believes in the perfectibility of human society; a visionary; an idealist; an optimist.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Even if you're being generous, Wood's vision of an alternative can feel like a utopian work in progress.
  • (2) My father, Peter Self, who was, oxymoronically, a “political scientist”, wrote numerous books, which, while often technical in character, were nonetheless informed by his own rather gentle and utopian socialism.
  • (3) In the utopian version of this storyline, by collapsing governments' abilities to promote freedom in some countries but not others, or in the political realm but not the commercial one, openness may force governments to pursue a more principled kind of politics.
  • (4) At the moment, this utopian scenario seems unlikely.
  • (5) Going with what seems a reasonable assumption – that Scotland can be successful either independent or in a federal Britain – we are left with a leap of faith in one direction or the other, based on whose utopian vision of our future is most likely to be untrue.
  • (6) Recently, the Swedish duo Tomorrow Machine showcased a series of utopian packaging that included a container that dissolves with its contents.
  • (7) Hobsbawm, being a sage member of the Communist Party, warned against their utopianism, but I took to them like a fish to water.
  • (8) Even then, analysts who should investigate the link between the business and its persona seem swept away by utopian dreams and look where the company suggests they should be looking (mainly the future.)
  • (9) Such utopian, urban visions help drive the “smart city” rhetoric that has, for the past decade or so, been promulgated most energetically by big technology, engineering and consulting companies.
  • (10) "No, I mean it quite seriously – it's utopian, of course, it will never happen."
  • (11) Ruth Dear Ruth… Will Hutton Photograph: Guardian There is a danger of utopian myth in this, rather like the Labour left and shop steward movement in the 1960s.
  • (12) Just a few months ago the European Parliament and the council were so far apart that it was almost utopian to believe in an agreement.
  • (13) But we're growing out of the initial goggle-eyed utopian phase that new technological leaps tend to induce, and settling down into the reality of the power of the crowd.
  • (14) Though it was a set-up picture, it didn't replicate an "everyday moment"; it created one that was both utopian and unlikely.
  • (15) Utopian maybe, but less ludicrous than suggesting that "hard-working families" can overcome the inequality perpetrated by a powerful elite determined to hang on to their privilege.
  • (16) He admits that the second alternative seems utopian.
  • (17) For mid-century Americans, these gleaming marketplaces provided an almost utopian alternative to the urban commercial district, an artificial downtown with less crime and fewer vermin.
  • (18) With its heady media mix of graphic violence and utopian idylls, Isis has sought recruits and supporters who are further down the path toward ideological radicalisation or more inclined by personal disposition toward violence.
  • (19) An eradication campaign against A. variegatum in Guadeloupe, to avoid the spread of the associated diseases, appears technically difficult but possible, economically profitable, but socially completely utopian.
  • (20) Once again the professionals are nervously circling the utopian future of integrated health and social care But that is never the same as doing it.

Visionary


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or pertaining to a visions or visions; characterized by, appropriate to, or favorable for, visions.
  • (a.) Affected by phantoms; disposed to receive impressions on the imagination; given to reverie; apt to receive, and act upon, fancies as if they were realities.
  • (a.) Existing in imagination only; not real; fanciful; imaginary; having no solid foundation; as, visionary prospect; a visionary scheme or project.
  • (n.) One whose imagination is disturbed; one who sees visions or phantoms.
  • (n.) One whose imagination overpowers his reason and controls his judgment; an unpractical schemer; one who builds castles in the air; a daydreamer.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) That is what needs to happen for this company, which started out as a rebellious presence in the business, determined to get credit for its creative visionaries.
  • (2) A "visionary leader," said Tony Blair; "one of the greatest leaders of our time," echoed Bill Clinton.
  • (3) Such visionary people have a vital role to play in helping the world to find the strength needed to address its problems.
  • (4) It was estimated at the roundtable that 25% of GPs who take on commissioning responsibility do so not because they are "visionaries", but because they are looking for new business opportunities, a contributor said.
  • (5) But the voters were unimpressed with both leaders’ “vision” – only 31% thought Abbott was “visionary” and 30% thought Shorten was.
  • (6) The visionary statesman of the 2009 Cairo speech failed to seize the opportunity of the Arab spring, especially in Egypt, where well over $1bn in aid gave the US real leverage with Egypt’s now again dominant, repressive military.
  • (7) His once-visionary keywords have grotesque afterlives: Big Brother is a TV franchise to make celebrities of nobodies and Room 101 a light-entertainment show on BBC2 currently hosted by Frank Skinner for celebrities to witter about stuff that gets their goat.
  • (8) His visionary prospectus was for nations to come together to underpin global prosperity and thus freedom – and for which a single currency was an indispensable pillar.
  • (9) Tate Modern, London, 16 October to 9 March, tate.org.uk Australia The complex art traditions of this remarkable continent – from Aboriginal dreamings and immigrant Romantic painters to the visionary Sidney Nolan – interweave in what promises to be a compelling epic spanning centuries of landscape and myth.
  • (10) He called on ministers last week to stop the "madness" of fast food outlets opening near schools and for a "visionary" to lead a renewed drive against obesity.
  • (11) And then the retailers come along and – look, most retailers are not visionaries.
  • (12) Museveni seems to have suddenly decided that human rights are an import from the west that cannot be tolerated; and that democracy is compatible with a politician holding a life presidency – provided the person in power is a visionary like him.
  • (13) Last year it won an award from Visionary , the membership organisation for local independent charities that support blind and partially sighted people across the UK.
  • (14) Visionary language is rarely heard from pro-Europeans these days; attempts to cast the EU as a morally based endeavour risk ridicule and scorn.
  • (15) Until there is genuine political leadership on this issue the system will remain failing.” The prime minister courted what he called the “visionary” Kids Company during his mission to detoxify the Tory party while in opposition, and cited it in his infamous “hug a hoodie” speech in 2006 as an exemplar of the type of public service he wanted to see – one which concentrated on “emotional quality” rather than hitting bureaucratic targets.
  • (16) It is the bold agenda against the timid one; the visionaries against those who believe Labour can limp home with a few safe offerings that can fit safely on the back of a pledge card.
  • (17) The chancellor's habit of letting reason triumph over visionary impulses and Kohl-type breakaways is clear to see.
  • (18) Why the Victorians managed to be so visionary is not entirely clear, but it had something to do with the confidence of an age of discovery both in science and other areas of knowledge, and also in geographical exploration and empire building.
  • (19) The deputy prime minister will issue a "call to arms for visionaries" to set out radical plans for new housing schemes as he announces the publication of a prospectus inviting bids from councils.
  • (20) He’s a very intelligent guy, he is a visionary and he has an approach to football that I think is remarkable … I’ve been saying to the president for a while: ‘Rémi is our Guardiola’,” said Bernard Lacombe, the long-time adviser to the Lyon president, Jean-Michel Aulas.