utmost or upmost importance?

[crisgal]

I'm not sure I know what utmost is?

[jno]

utmost. It's related to 'outermost'

[crisgal]

so upmost is....?

[jno]

I don't think it's a word... uppermost is, it means top or highest - the thing that's uppermost in your mind, or the uppermost layer of cloud.

[crisgal]

well fancy that!
I always thought people were saying upmost.
cheers jno

[Kakuro1]

They might have been - upmost is a word according to Chambers and means uppermost.

[crisgal]

oh. now i don't know which one to use!

[Kakuro1]

Well, for what its worth - and some may well disagree - as utmost means greatest and 'a matter of the utmost importance' comes as part of the definition for utmost in the Oxford Dictionary of English, I agree with jno that utmost importance is to be preferred.

[Quizmonster]

Yes, upmost is a word meaning much the same as uppermost, but nowadays it is almost invariably used in a purely physical sense, as in the upmost branches of a tree, the upmost storeys of a building...ie those at the very top.
Utmost has been in use since Old English days and there is a connection with uttermost. It is often used with abstract ideas, as in the utmost diligence, the utmost care, the utmost importance and so on.

[jno]

I stand corrected over the existence of upmost; otherwise I'll stick with what I said: utmost importance is better. (People might well have been saying upmost importance, of course, but I don't think they're right.)

[crisgal]

i hoped you'd pop by QM. You've helped me out many a time!

Thanks guys, I have written utmost. I suppose when people are speaking, it's hard to tell which they are saying!

[Quizmonster]

Ah, thanks for your kind comment, ma'am!