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Synonyms

in extremis

American  
[in eks-tre-mees, in ik-stree-mis] / ɪn ɛksˈtrɛ mis, ɪn ɪkˈstri mɪs /

adverb

Latin.

  1. in extremity.

  2. near death.

in extremis British  
/ ɪn ɪkˈstriːmɪs /

adverb

  1. in extremity; in dire straits

  2. at the point of death

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of in extremis

literally: in the furthest reaches

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.

Bond holdings are concentrated in domestic pension funds and life insurers, and in extremis the BoJ could resume buying itself.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

Earl could get a run in midfield in extremis, if injury and fatigue bite hard.

From BBC • Nov. 1, 2024

Realize that something was deeply wrong, that no patient should be in extremis like this?

From Slate • Aug. 7, 2023

She spends much of her segment in extremis: absorbing a medical trauma, howling to save her life, ferally masticating arugula in some kind of furious fugue state.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 1, 2022

Every planetary nebula is a token of a star in extremis.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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.