There are very few words I despise. Today’s post is about the one at the very top of that list. Here we go. This word is . . . utilize.
Utilize is one of those “smart” words people throw into cover letters, business reports, and research papers in the hopes of coming off as sounding super amazingly intelligent. And it’s true—sometimes this works. But it’s a cheap trick, and it’s easy for a trained eye to see through this ploy. What’s more, nine times out of ten, it’s the wrong word to use.
Let’s start off by looking at the definitions of these two words.
use: take, hold, or deploy (something) as a means of accomplishing or achieving something; employ
—Oxford English Dictionary
utilize: to make or render useful; to convert to use, turn to account
—Oxford English Dictionary
Is there a difference between these words?
Technically, yes. If you look at the definition of utilize, you’ll notice that it implies taking something and using it for an unintended purpose (convert to use). Meanwhile, the definition of use is more straight forward. It means employing any old thing to achieve your goal, whether or not you use that any old thing for its intended purpose. So if you are not actually creating an alternate use for something, utilize is the wrong word.
Here are two examples to illustrate this idea:
The witch uses her cauldron to brew her potions.
The witch utilizes her cauldron as a drum during the ceremony.
In the second example, the witch uses her cauldron for something other than its intended purpose. Cauldrons are cooking tools, not musical instruments. The witch converted the use of the cauldron to make her drum. Because of this, it’s okay to use utilize. But use works too.
But I really want to look smart! I have a prospective employer to impress!
As I mentioned before, cover letters are one of the most popular places for utilize to lurk. I’m a professional copy editor, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve changed utilize to plain old use because it’s simpler and less pretentious. But, if for some reason, you think your prospective employer might like a word with a little more flair, here are some examples of how to avoid utilize without using use.
ORIGINAL: I have utilized my excellent project management skills to consistently meet deadlines.
REVISED: I have applied my excellent project management skills to consistently meet deadlines.
ORIGINAL: My years of experience have allowed me to utilize the classic and current techniques of dog grooming.
REVISED: My years of experience have allowed me to hone the classic and current techniques of dog grooming.
ORIGINAL: I am able to utilize multiple programs simultaneously.
REVISED: I am able to manage multiple programs simultaneously.
There are plenty of other ways to sound like the super amazingly intelligent person I’m sure you are than to incorrectly use utilize. Besides, you never know if the person reading your cover letter is going to be a grammar stickler like me.
Erin Servais has edited hundreds of books and has replaced thousands of “utilizes” in her day. Learn how to hire her to edit your next book today: dotanddashllc.com
Grammar Party 
When I look over a cover letter that has “utilize” on it, I want to utilize it as toilet paper.
Great post.
LikeLike
I totally understand. Unfortunately, when I see the word, it’s usually on a computer screen–so that would make it a little more tough to use as toilet paper.
LikeLike
I was just railing on my husband about this word! Thanks for this post- you made my night!
LikeLike
Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Last year I heard one basketball broadcaster declare, “He really used his head in that awkward situation… I mean, utilized his head.”
Bad language drives out good.
LikeLike
That is so incredibly sad.
LikeLike
Don’t utilize the word utilize! Use the word use!
LikeLike
I wish Grammar Party would explain the different between “bring and take”. Far too many people use bring when they should be using take. It has everything to do with location.
LikeLike
I had a college professor some years back who said he would flunk anybody who used “utilized” in a paper. He said he was sick of reading that word, over and over, in place of good ole plain “use.” Thanks for the clarification on the differences in definition.
LikeLike
I agree with you totally, though I prefer ‘utility belt’ to ‘usefulness belt’.
LikeLike
I prefer to have someone else be the handyman. All the nail holes in my walls agree.
LikeLike
Lol!
LikeLike
🤣
LikeLike
I had a professor in my third or fourth year of college who would rant on about his pet peeve words, and “utilize” was at the top of the list. I viewed his unhealthy emphasis on things like this (along with bizarre behavior, such as reciting all of “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” in class one day) as a sign of deeper issues.
The “smart” words problem is often the result of pretentious use, or a misapplication of specialized language to a general situation. I like all of your suggestions for improving those resume sentences. And it’s safe to assume that most resume-readers are sticklers (even if they haven’t earned it): surveys consistently show that by the time you hit three errors, between 70% and 80% of hiring managers will put a resume aside.
LikeLike
As a project manager and someone that has not grasped the finer aspects of this great english language, I would agree I have fallen prey to the incorrect use of utilize. I can’t help but think I helped this post become a reality……. Today, I’m happy to say this guy has reverted to the tried and true ‘use’. Praise the Lord, he has been saved.
LikeLike
As Bobby says…”(S)omeone THAT has not grasped”
Men are HANGED; ham is HUNG.
Erin, would you please do a post about that vs who? My teachers insisted that who was to be used when referring to a person, while that was used for inanimate or non-human objects.
This is the dog THAT shit on my lawn. Here is its owner, WHO didn’t pick it up.
Don’t they teach this point anymore? All I hear and read is that, that, that!
LikeLike
I remember being taught that vs. who in school. But, I think that’s one of the finer points that is quick to be forgotten if English grammar, say, wasn’t your favorite class (something I can’t understand). That’s a great topic idea. I don’t know how many times I corrected that just yesterday.
LikeLike
“that” is perfectly fine for people, provided it is part of a defining relative clause. In fact, I tend to prefer it. You’re right in your example sentence that it should be “who,” because the clause describing the owner is non-defining.
Sincerely, a guy that digs grammar.
LikeLike
Great post. Love it. Puts me in mind of George Orwell’s five rules for effective writing:
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/george-orwells-5-rules-for-effective-writing/
Rule #2: Never use a long word where a short one will do.
Also reminds me of a great course I took years ago called Eight-Step Editing (I highly recommend it). One of the points was that, in our efforts to look smarter, we keep taking simple words and making them longer:
Use … utilize … utilization … utilizable … utilizability … misutilizability
And then we build unutilizable sentences to increase the utilization of our misutilized words instead of using simple words to build straightforward sentences.
LikeLike
This is a great comment. And so true. Perhaps I should do a post soon on “business” words to avoid. I’ll have to do some thinking on that.
LikeLike
And to think my high school teachers used to correct the use of “use” as stupidty, without proffering suitable replacements other than “utilize.” All these years. I am ashamed I never actually referred to a dictionary, or at least a thesaurus. Thanks for your suggestions.
LikeLike
I had a teacher who told us never to use “said.” Instead we should use a flowery alternative. And . . . she was my high school journalism teacher. The very fist thing I learned in my college journalism classes was to always use “said” in articles. (Though, with creative writing, of course, this is different.) This just goes to show that teachers aren’t always right.
LikeLike
@ Boggleton Drive
The gravatar shows a picture of a man with a cat. How can you be sure that I am the man? I may be his wife, or, like Bongo, I may be the cat. Nah! Ya got me!
LikeLike
I was referring to myself as a guy… 🙂
LikeLike
You deserve the Nobel Peace prize for this. That horrid word — utilize — is over-employed ( 😉 ) by people trying to sound…. smart? Efficient? Bureaucratic? Conformist?
Honest to all that is holy in the world of good grammar and effective communication in writing or speaking: what good can possibly come from using utilize?
LikeLike
Thanks for your nice comment. And, in answer to your question, I have no idea.
LikeLike
Pompous? Self-important? I had a boss who said utilize all the time. Nobody liked her.
LikeLike
Amen!
LikeLike
I think I may have just found a new favorite blog. 🙂
LikeLike
Do not utilize the word “utilize”! Use the word “use”!!
LikeLike
I forgot that I posted this 7 years ago. So I posted it again.
LikeLike
The ironic thing here is that, when the word “utilize” is employed, it is generally incorrect, yet still gets the point across. Thus, people (incorrectly) tend to “turn ‘utilize’ to use” in place of the word “use”, and are utilizing the word “utilize”.
Mind=blown!
LikeLike
Yes, just yes. So very tired of utilize when use is perfectly useful and not a bit pretentious. Thank you.
LikeLike
I absolutely agree! I have bugged my husband about it so much that he searched online to prove me wrong. Guess what he found? Your blog! At least he can admit when he’s wrong – he forwarded it to me 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: Leveraging Misutilized Words: Utilize | Audrey C.
Boy am I glad to read this! I literally cringe every time I see utilize i documents and emails that I receive from my colleagues. I cannot understand why they just don’t use use. I found this blog because I was desperate to see if I was wrong. Not! Now that I know the proper use of the word, I will gently redirect them towards use.
LikeLike
That’s Grammar Party–saving people’s sanity one word at at time.
LikeLike
I work in nuclear science with a group that prepares regulatory documentation. We have to intentionally ‘dumb down’ our technical papers to ensure that the regulators understand the science. Despite this, I think that I am the only person in our department who doesn’t default to using ‘utilize’ in a futile attempt to make our technical documentation sound more technical. It irks me.
LikeLike
Great post, and very helpful. I saw one tiny problem:
“Besides, you never know if the person reading your cover letter is going to be a grammar stickler like me.”
Technically, “like I” is correct, though admittedly awkward. I would instead say:
“Besides, you never know if the person reading your cover letter is going to be a grammar stickler like I am.”
LikeLike
Totally agree with your comments regarding the use of ‘use’ vs ‘utilize’ but in your commentary, you hit another raw nerve; ‘alternate’ vs ‘alternative’. “So if you are not actually creating an alternate use for something, utilize is the wrong word.” Probably a misconception on my part but maybe something you may wish to consider?
Rob Joselyn
LikeLike
Next up–“prioritize.” Is this even a real word??
LikeLike
Erin: So glad to know the word, “utilize” drives someone else crazy too! I hate to hear that word because it really is almost always used incorrectly. Anyway, what is wrong with the word, “use?”
I “use” it every chance I get.
LikeLike
Pingback: Margot Peterson:Use vs. Utilize - Margot Peterson
During college in the 70s, I remember distinctly a forum assembly where the speaker (President of some eastern university) mentioned misuse of “utilize.” His example of proper usage: “The doctor utilized the pencil to perform open heart surgery.” That has stuck with me all these years. I am listening to a football game broadcast where every other comment contains utilize. Driving me crazy.
LikeLike
Pingback: Today’s news … Sunday, July 24, 2016 – a hot day again! | Columbia news, views & reviews
Pingback: n-Want to Sell More Products and Services to Your Prospects? Write Copy They Understand! |
Oh my goodness FINALLY someone who agrees with me! The worst part is that my English teacher has terrible grammar and has changed some of my words to “utilised”. It drives me nuts.
LikeLike
Pingback: Concrete Ways to Revise for Clarity | Propllr: PR and Content Marketing for Start-ups
For an Italian, utilize is a false friend (“Usare” and “Utilizzare” mean the same).
BTW, that’s the reason why I am here: trying to figure out if they are equivalent or not. So thank you 😉
LikeLike
Pingback: Saturday’s news items [municipal brief; events & this & that] – 5/11/2019 – Columbia news, views & reviews
Pingback: Friday’s news items [use vs. utilize; & more] – 7/12/2019 – Columbia news, views & reviews
Pingback: 12 Days of Christmas: Nine Phrases That Should be Banned Spin Sucks
I’m not fully convinced by what we say about this word. I am rather fluent in French (my husband is French and I live in France) and the word “utilisation” is frequently used and not pretentious at all. Utiliser, that’s the verb unconjugated, which means to make use of. The verb “user” and “usage” refer rather to using something to the point of it being “worn”–in the sense of “a used item.” I wouldn’t ask my mother in law, “Je peux user ça ?” I would instead ask, “Je peux utiliser ça ?”
As this English word and so many others take their origins in French, I suspect we largely no longer understand what it means and that there’s nothing wrong with using the word “utilise.”
LikeLike
Pingback: 11 Phrases That Should Be Banned – Ellis Associates, Inc. Blog
Pingback: Business English in Software Development | KindGeek
Is there any source or justification for this interpretation of the meaning and use of the word “utilize”? The Oxford definition does not seem to suggest such strict use. The major dictionaries do not agree with your post, as they don’t list “innovative use” as a definition, only profitable or effective use, whether it’s innovative, novel, or not. In fact, Merriam Webster even has an article on the word, and they say nothing of the sort. There’s a difference in connotation, not in meaning, according to them.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/is-utilize-a-word-worth-using
So, what is this based on? The point about not using unnecessary flowery language is well taken, but I can’t see any basis for such strict prescriptions of how to use these words.
LikeLike
Ten years post initial publication and “utilize” is still being over-utilized. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
LikeLike
A misutilization of a scarce resource.
LikeLike
Pingback: Internet Dating Service Reviews — Working For You Find The Most Readily Useful! — Сахагеокешинг
Pingback: Online Dating For Professionals – Discover The Perfect Match For You Personally – Brain Waves Institute
Pingback: Online Dating – 10 Rules Everyone Should Know - Freedom Central News
Pingback: Online Dating: Finding Love Online – ciprofloxacinait
Pingback: Why Online Dating Sites May Be Advantageous To Women — Сахагеокешинг
Pingback: Free Online Dating For 30+ Singles — META недвижимость
Bless you for writing this oh so many years ago. Now only if we could get people to read and comprehend it. Nothing erodes a presenter’s credibility like the overuse of this word.
LikeLike
Pingback: How can public service organizations minimize or eliminate sources of misinformation? - Scholary Writers