Definition of "utilitarian" []

• Of, relating to, or in the interests of utility: utilitarian considerations in industrial design. (adjective)
• Exhibiting or stressing utility over other values; practical: plain, utilitarian kitchenware. (adjective)
• Of, characterized by, or advocating utilitarianism. (adjective)
• One who advocates or practices utilitarianism. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Guy Gavriel Kay approached the topic from what he termed a utilitarian perspective of the author who uses time as one of many tools in the authorial toolbox for providing narrative solutions."
• "I probably shouldn't have expressed my objection in utilitarian "does it do more harm than good?" terms."
• "While the period of interference from political totalitarianism has passed, is it not the case that frequently, across the globe, the exercise of reason and academic research are – subtly and not so subtly – constrained to bow to the pressures of ideological interest groups and the lure of short-term utilitarian or pragmatic goals?"