Is there any real diffrence in meaning between "use" and "utilise"?

Question

Do they have any real diffrence in usage or meaning, or is it just that "utilise" sounds more formal? What do you think would be the diffrence in implication in using "use" VS "utilise", or visa versa?

Don't tell me to check the meanings in a dictionary, i want a direct comparison not just a definition of each. (For example defining "dog" and "cat" would be very different to comparing the two animals.)

Yeah, who wants to report Tommy for writing in the wrong language? I put this on the UK version of the site.

I appreciate your answer, but this is in the UK sections, so sticking to the right language would be appriciated. In English the only "ize" with a "z" is "size", "utilise" and most other "ise" verbs have an "s", so please can you speak English and not American!

Answer 1

They are the same thing. Utilise is more formal, you're right.

The scientists utilised the equipment to...
The scientists used the equipment to...

Answer 2

Utile and utilitarian are real words. Utilise/utilize are not. The correct word is "use". Utilize is a made-up word that someone, somewhere thought would make people think the user is smarter or more educated. It's just an affectation that only means "use", nothing else. Why make up a 3 syllable word when there's a perfectly good 1 syllable word already available? Snootiness, I guess......

Answer 3

That's an interesting question. I can think of some cases in which one word rather than the other would be preferred:

If you want to pound nails, use a hammer. (not utilize)
If you want to make a phone call, use the phone.

To solve the problem of increased flooding, we must utilize all our resources. (This is close, but I wouldn't use "use" here, as I think it would have the meaning of "use up" rather than "make use of.")

I'm really not sure I can answer your question completely, but maybe the examples will help. In general, it seems we "use" a simple device or object, but tend to utilize something more complex, with more variables, as a means to a complex goal.

PS I've noticed that this board is used by people from all English-speaking countries, including India, so there may be some regional variations in spelling and meaning. I'm from America, so my sense of the above examples may not match yours. Still, I hope this is helpful.

Answer 4

Just a quick note, completely off subject, but not far from some complaints, I am an American, and I came upon this question through the American site, therefore, until the harsh remarks, I had no reason to believe this question did not come from a fellow American. This leads me to believe that many of the questions are not split between sites.

Answer 5

No Americans use utilise because they think it sounds more "technical"........It's just the usual American gibberish

Edit
The one thing we CAN'T tell Americans off for is -ize...for many years this was the only permitted ending for verbalizing nouns by the Oxford University Press....educated Britons still -ize their nouns

Answer 6

To me they are very similar in meaning. I take "use" to mean that you are doing something with an object, whereas to "utilise" is to take full advantage of the functions of the object that you have at your disposal.
I "use" answers.com if I log on to look up questions and read others' answers.
I "utilise" answers.com if I ask questions myself and help others by answering their questions.
Sorry if that makes little sense, but I was trying to compare without using "use" as part of my explanations.

Answer 7

Usage is easier to understand than utilize (or utilise). Those are simply sesquipedalianism (using 50-cent words when nickel words will do). I use the word u-s-e and reserve accustomed to when I mean used to.

Answer 8

Use and utilize – “These words refer to putting something to work, with or without altering it in the process.”

“ ‘Use’ is the most general and informal of these (use, consume, employ, expend, utilize), and there is no context within which it would not be suitable for expressing this activity, whether or not the object involved is altered in the process: ‘using’ a dictionary to check his spelling.”

“ ‘Use’ can in every instance be substituted for ‘utilize’, with an invariable gain in directness and clarity. But, like ‘employ’, utilize has a distinct sphere of meaning all its own, referring to the conversion necessary to make something useful, a meaning now largely ignored: underwater oil deposits that had no value before science taught us how to ‘utilize’ them.”

The above has been quoted from the source below.

Answer 9

i never use utilise in general conversation use is much quicker

as regards americans answering they seem to do it in all categories
i find this very annoying and sometimes very misleading if not dangerous (try using american answers in electrical categories they dont even make sense)
to say put your fanny on my lap has a different meaning

Answer 10

Katie30 has most of it.
Utilize (sic) means 'to make use of'. in proper usage this means to use something in a specifically practical, effective, productive or profitable way. It can also mean to use something for a purpose it wasn't designed for. So you use a radio aerial to receive signals, but you could utilize a coat hanger as a radio aerial. You use a bath tub for bathing, but you could utilize it as a drinking trough for cattle.
Using 'utilize' as a synonym for 'use' is nearly always wrong. It's got into 'management speak', unfortunately, and is just as pretentious and pointless as so much other nonsense.

Answer 11

utilise means 'to use in a practical or effective way' and so means something specific than use, which is a more general word. utilise is more common in technical terms.

ie: when the fan belt broke they had to utilise a scarf.