consummate
Americanverb (used with object)
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consummates,
present (3rd person singular)
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consummated,
past participle, past
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consummating
present participle
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to bring to a state of perfection; fulfill.
- Synonyms:
- achieve, accomplish, finish, perfect, complete
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to complete (an arrangement, agreement, or the like) by a pledge or the signing of a contract.
The company consummated its deal to buy a smaller firm.
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to complete (the union of a marriage) by the first marital sexual intercourse.
adjective
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complete or perfect; supremely skilled; superb.
a consummate master of the violin.
- Antonyms:
- unfinished, imperfect
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being of the highest or most extreme degree.
a work of consummate skill; an act of consummate savagery.
verb
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to bring to completion or perfection; fulfil
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to complete (a marriage) legally by sexual intercourse
adjective
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accomplished or supremely skilled
a consummate artist
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(prenominal) (intensifier)
a consummate fool
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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consummationnoun
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consummatornoun
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consummativeadjective
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consummatoryadjective
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half-consummatedadjective
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unconsummateadjective
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unconsummatedadjective
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unconsummativeadjective
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consummatelyadverb
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unconsummatelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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consummatesimple
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consummatessimple
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have consummatedperfect
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has consummatedperfect
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am consummatingprogressive
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are consummatingprogressive
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is consummatingprogressive
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have been consummatingperfect progressive
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has been consummatingperfect progressive
Past
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consummatedsimple
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had consummatedperfect
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was consummatingprogressive
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were consummatingprogressive
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had been consummatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of consummate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English (adjective), from Latin consummātus “completed,” past participle of consummāre “to complete, bring to perfection,” from con- con- + summ(a) sum + -āre, infinitive verb suffix
Explanation
Consummate means complete, finished, or masterful. If you refer to someone as a consummate chef, then you are saying he is the ultimate chef. If you say someone is a consummate jerk, then you are saying he is the ultimate jerk. Consummate can be used to describe something good or bad: consummate joy, a consummate liar. To consummate means to bring something to completion, but it often refers specifically to making a marriage complete by having sexual relations. The adjective is pronounced KÄN-sə-mit, but the verb is pronounced KÄN-sə-māt.
Vocabulary lists containing consummate
The Book Thief
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Neill was a consummate character actor, hard-working and driven by a love for his craft, with a filmography spanning decades and roles that touched countless lives.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
My husband, consummate family man, was born to be a grandfather.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Luke’s piece tells the story of Mike Love, 85, the last remaining member of one of the 20th century’s consummate pop acts, while also reflecting on nostalgia, bitterness, legacy, and mortality.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026
For years, Turner explored potential mergers with the big broadcasters, but couldn’t consummate a deal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
She spoke with her hands, entertaining her two youngest children with fluid movements of such consummate grace that it seemed as though light music should be filtering from somewhere in the dizzying late afternoon heat.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Yet the secret genius of "Your Love" is that the song never directly spells out whether the narrator consummates his crush in real life; we only get one side of the story.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2023
With “Part II,” Hogg consummates a sweeping, inward-looking masterwork, one that reexamines and in certain cases amends reality, the likes of which few filmmakers reach in their careers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2022
Most times, the ritual is all sound and fury and consummates its purpose without any actual violence.
From Newsweek ● Sep. 9, 2013
The new creation, as we call it, restores and consummates the old.
From The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians by Findlay, G. G.
Feudalism can be compared to a nut-shell, which protects the kernel till it quietly consummates its maturing process within.
From An Introduction to the History of Japan by Hara, Katsuro
In a Monday memo to employees, Ellison wrote that he still believes his mammoth merger will be consummated in the coming months.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
"This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all Nato Nations."
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2026
In an age when every middle-class household could afford a few hearth gods, the superior collector consummated his passion for beauty against the “prevailing winds of progress, fashion, democracy, money, and modernity.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
Then the mating is consummated, with the female laying eggs in a groove in a tree branch.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
The marriages not having been consummated, the Court of Rome did not make any great difficulty.'
From The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria by Tremayne, Eleanor E.
If the universal acclaim of “Oklahoma!” will force Hart to confront his professional irrelevance, maybe Elizabeth’s beaming presence — and the promise of them consummating their feelings — will be sufficient compensation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2025
The agency asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals late on Thursday to require the companies to delay consummating the transaction while the court considered the FTC's broader appeal.
From Reuters ● Jul. 14, 2023
Instead of consummating the transaction, though, the girl collapses on the bed, exhausted from caring for her siblings and working at a button factory.
From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2023
The attorneys had argued Twitter was heavily reliant on Slack in consummating the deal, with multiple channels that hosted discussions about the merger.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 7, 2022
For the purpose of consummating certain speculative ends, congress has treated with contempt state laws and state authority.
From Monopolies and the People by Cloud, D. C.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
