consummate

[kon-suh-meyt, kuhn-suhm-it, kon-suh-mit]

verb (used with object)

consummated, consummating 

1. to bring to a state of perfection; fulfill.

   Synonyms: achieve, accomplish, finish, perfect, complete

2. 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.

3. to complete (the union of a marriage) by the first marital sexual intercourse.

adjective

1. complete or perfect; supremely skilled; superb.

   a consummate master of the violin.

   Antonyms: unfinished, imperfect

2. being of the highest or most extreme degree.

   a work of consummate skill; an act of consummate savagery.

consummate

verb

1. to bring to completion or perfection; fulfil

2. to complete (a marriage) legally by sexual intercourse

adjective

1. accomplished or supremely skilled

   a consummate artist

2. (prenominal) (intensifier)

   a consummate fool

Other Word Forms

• consummately adverb
• consummative adjective
• consummatory adjective
• consummator noun
• half-consummated adjective
• unconsummate adjective
• unconsummately adverb
• unconsummated adjective
• unconsummative adjective
• consummation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of consummate¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of consummate¹

C15: from Latin consummāre to complete, from summus highest, utmost

Example Sentences

The research helped him debunk myths of the near-useless male lion that seldom hunts and of the female as the consummate mother.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As of Sunday, the details of a deal are ironed out, leaving it up to the leaders to consummate the transaction, he said.

Read more on Barron's

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.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Enemy fire has left him unable to consummate his love for Lady Brett Ashley, a former nurse who has turned herself over to a madcap Paris existence.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

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.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accomplished 
• gifted 
• polished 
• skilled 
• superb 
• superlative 
• talented