consummate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
consummates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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:
His consummate professionalism, and apparent ability to develop into the complete player with age, means this can never be discounted.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Making his debut as Ms. Nadon’s partner in “Emeralds,” Gilbert Bolden III supported her with consummate strength and ease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 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
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
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
For virtue is a perfect habit, by which it never happens that anything but good is done: and so virtue must needs be in that power which consummates the good act.
From Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) From the Complete American Edition by Saint Thomas Aquinas
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
That said, there was never much doubt that the deal would be consummated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 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
But that deal was never consummated and Triller experienced its own legal issues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
The merger, itself, was consummated in the midsummer of 1875.
From The Story of the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg RailRoad by Edward Hungerford
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
Two years later, they completed a torrid offseason at the league meeting by consummating the signing of defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh — and kicking the tires on trading for star receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2023
According to multiple reports, the Mavericks consulted Doncic before consummating the Irving trade.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 5, 2023
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
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