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.
Best for workers would be the regulatory quagmire ending quickly so the two studios can return to investing in content, ultimately the only way to pay down their debt and create jobs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The answer will ultimately hinge on the so-called hyperscalers financing much of the AI buildout, not only with cash on hand, but increasingly by issuing debt and equity.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
It occurs when two colors of light send the semiconductor through different absorption pathways that ultimately lead to the same final state.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
The force ultimately opted to withdraw the extra charges, as Hammond was prosecuted and convicted for the speeding.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Jefferson believed that ending the slave trade would ultimately end slavery, but he did not take into account the natural increase of America’s enslaved people.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
