Abstract: A utility knife especially suitable for use by either right-handed or left-handed persons includes a generally symmetrical casing, as viewed from the side, having a generally pointed leading edge and two surfaces sloping back at equal angles from the point. When a standard razor-like blade is positioned in the knife, the midpoint of the blade between its sharpened cutting edge and non-sharpened opposite edge, lies on an imaginary line extending from the point at the forward end of the casing and generally through the center of the knife. The blade may be positioned with its cutting edge being on one side or the other side of the imaginary centerline. In either position, the cutting edge of the blade will project similarly from the casing when a thumb piece is pushed toward the forward end.