ultimately
Britishadverb
Explanation
Ultimately means "at the very end of the process." Your strategy of robbing banks with a water gun worked a few times, but ultimately it was unsuccessful. Use ultimately when you want to stress that there are many different elements of something, but in the end there's one clear conclusion. The city parks department might listen to everyone's ideas for what to do with that empty lot, but ultimately they'll do whatever they think will serve the city best. Ultimately comes from the Latin ultimāre, meaning, lying at the very end.
Vocabulary lists containing ultimately
Tuesdays with Morrie
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Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
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Obama, on the 50th anniversary of 'Bloody Sunday'
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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.
Anfield needs some excitement after a below-par campaign last season which ultimately saw Slot lose the support of the fanbase and his job, a year after winning the Premier League.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Charlie Hunnam, who appeared in the third installment of “Monster,” portrays her wealthy but ultimately unfortunate father Andrew Borden, and Rebecca Hall plays his second wife, Abby Borden.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
For AI developers and investors, though, dollars and cents are what ultimately will matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
"It doesn't ultimately stop it, but it slows it down quite considerably," he said.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
Bobby ultimately did go to court but lost, the judge throwing the case out because it was so poorly presented and without sufficient evidence.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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.
