ultimate
Americanadjective
-
last; furthest or farthest; ending a process or series.
the ultimate point in a journey; the ultimate style in hats.
-
maximum; decisive; conclusive.
the ultimate authority; the ultimate weapon.
- Synonyms:
- supreme
-
highest; not subsidiary.
ultimate goal in life.
-
basic; fundamental; representing a limit beyond which further progress, as in investigation or analysis, is impossible.
the ultimate particle; ultimate principles.
-
final; total.
the ultimate consequences; the ultimate cost of a project.
- Antonyms:
- first
-
not to be improved upon or surpassed; greatest; unsurpassed.
the ultimate vacation spot; the ultimate stupidity.
noun
-
the final point; final result.
-
a fundamental fact or principle.
-
the best, greatest, or most extreme of its kind.
adjective
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conclusive in a series or process; last; final
an ultimate question
-
the highest or most significant
the ultimate goal
-
elemental, fundamental, basic, or essential
-
most extreme
genocide is the ultimate abuse of human rights
-
final or total
an ultimate cost of twenty million pounds
noun
Synonym Usage
See last 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of ultimate
First recorded in 1645–55; from Late Latin ultimātus (past participle of ultimāre “to come to an end”), equivalent to Latin ultim(us) “last, most distant” + -ātus past participle suffix; see ultima, -ate 1
Explanation
The last in a series can be described as the ultimate. A cheeky kid, when asked what she wants to be when she grows up, might say, "I want to be an actress, a singer, and a veterinarian, but my ultimate goal is to be President of the United States." A definition for the adjective ultimate is the furthest in space or time or the highest in degree or order. Traveling for business, you are flying first to London, then to Portugal, but your ultimate destination is South Africa. The kids ask you if they can invite friends over to play video games. It's a good idea to reply, "Mom isn't home from work yet and she's ultimate authority on the schedule."
Vocabulary lists containing ultimate
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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Starting Your New Life: Inspiring Words from Commencement Speeches
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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:
And as Ma gasps her final breaths, she makes her smart little girl promise to never lose sight of her ultimate goal.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
“We see increased willingness to pay strong advertiser demand, and those ultimately drive the top-level metrics of our business revenue and operating profit, which are really the ultimate signs of our health.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The family was on a pleasure flight over Manhattan, described by the operator as the "ultimate sightseeing tour of New York City."
From Barron's ● Jul. 16, 2026
Jackson didn’t render an ultimate decision on this question, but strongly suggested that she would side with a transgender litigant who presented this argument in a future case.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
The Duke, then, erred in this election, and it was the cause of his ultimate ruin.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
In this building," Clark proclaims, "everything emanates and ultimates from me.
From Time Magazine Archive
And the book is, finally, both religious in its treatment of ultimates and morally eloquent in its strong rebuke for those who scorn any culture but their own.
From Time Magazine Archive
There is more in this book about Miss Woolson's literary mannerisms than Lincoln's world-shaking ideas; more about Joaquin Miller's escapades than Melville's struggles with the ultimates of morality.
From Time Magazine Archive
Dowd was so penetratingly right,—and so ignorant of certain essentials, so wrong in his forecasts and ultimates.
From Marriage by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
Nor should I make even a passing allusion to it, were it not for its political ultimates.
From The Conqueror by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn
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.
