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.
"This next phase focuses not on promises, but on carefully determining whether modulating this pathway is safe, feasible, and ultimately meaningful for human disease."
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
Their authority is defined by the will or trust and is ultimately governed by state law and the oversight of the courts.
From MarketWatch • May 25, 2026
The victims contacted the police following publicity around a parole board panel decision that he had been ready for release that was ultimately overturned after a legal challenge by two of his victims.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
Once towed to the lease areas up the coast, their electricity would flow back to land via floating underwater cables and, ultimately, tied into the state’s main grid.
From Los Angeles Times • May 24, 2026
We knocked ourselves out trying to fit in but were ultimately betrayed by our tongues.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
