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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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
There was plenty of mutual respect when the two heavyweights faced the media, but Fury - boxing's consummate showman - eventually delivered the headline-grabbing moment the room had been waiting for.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
Mad-Eye dead; it could not be....Mad-Eye, so tough, so brave, the consummate survivor...
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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 is this union, which consummates the aspirations of humanity, that Shelley celebrates in the marvellous love-song of Prometheus.
From Mysticism in English Literature by Spurgeon, Caroline F. E.
Thus finding utterance as the prophet of God, he consummates his mission and takes his place in the world order.
From The Enjoyment of Art by Noyes, Carleton Eldredge
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
Although Henry married his cousin, their marriage was apparently never consummated and his wife later filed for annulment.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2025
Then the mating is consummated, with the female laying eggs in a groove in a tree branch.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
But before the transaction can be consummated, the deal must overcome regulatory scrutiny.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2024
The apotheosis of the emperors consummated its degradation.
From History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 1 of 2) by Lecky, William Edward Hartpole
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
Is trauma preventing B and G from consummating their love, or has their youthful dependence cast them into sibling roles?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
He singled out “My Night at Maud’s,” a 1969 classic in which a man and a woman have a lengthy conversation about love, religion and other existential themes without ultimately consummating their romantic tension.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2022
For a whim of tristfulness, for the luxury of consummating the ineffable depression the house created in him, Michael prepared to glance at every one of the five rooms.
From Sinister Street, vol. 2 by MacKenzie, Compton
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.
