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

Fred Allen, the consummate radio comedian, called television a “medium,” to which he added that nothing about it is “well-done.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Often called the consummate “self-made man,” Franklin wrote his autobiography in four parts over 19 years.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Odysseus is the flawed hero, a consummate liar and a less-than-stellar leader who cannot safeguard the “homecomings of his companions.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The San Francisco Democrat was also considered the consummate political operator.

Read more on BBC

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

Related Words

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