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
-
(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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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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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:
And in a shift in strategy, veterans Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck were brought in to add experience and their consummate professionalism to the Chelsea dressing room.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
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
On the other hand, it might make of him a consummate bore.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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
It consummates all other qualities, but does not consume them.
From Fantasia of the Unconscious by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
The man who consummates the sale will seldom have the satisfaction of realizing that he has given value received.
From Twenty Years of Hus'ling by W. W. (William Wallace) Denslow
It also promised a $7 billion breakup fee to Warner Bros. if its merger wasn’t approved, and $7 million a day if it wasn’t consummated by the end of this month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
The framework for a deal was consummated in a matter of days, Iger told interviewers last week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
White House National Security Council deputy adviser, Jonathan Finer, said on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday that "we worked to try to get Marc included in the deal that consummated last week".
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2024
If it’s consummated, the deal would reverse Boeing’s largest outsourcing move after nearly 20 years, allowing the aerospace giant to tighten oversight of its most important parts provider.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
Then after His next words: "All is consummated," she hears Him commend His Soul to His Father, and she watches Him die.
From Mater Christi Meditations on Our Lady by Mother St. Paul
Neither side, fresh off rekindling their flame and consummating a marriage forged in the fires of mutual arrogance, could have foreseen the turbulence to come.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2023
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
According to multiple reports, the Mavericks consulted Doncic before consummating the Irving trade.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 5, 2023
They have chopped and changed and dropped and recalled spinners, hopping from Jack Leach to Dom Bess to Moeen Ali, and flirting with Matt Parkinson without ever consummating the relationship.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2021
Before this matrimonial alliance was fulfilled, John came to his end; but his brother David, who displaced the heir and usurped the throne,--a fit agent for consummating the ruin of an empire,--completed the arrangement.
From Women of Early Christianity by Alfred Brittain
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.
