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.
Miranda and Leigh-Anne were blissfully unaware that next door, something much more boring but ultimately more consequential was unfolding.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
At the end of the film, a title card reveals that Evans ultimately rescinded his claim for financial compensation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
As silly as many of these characters are, it’s Sakurai’s aspirations that ultimately look ridiculous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
First, the ultimately failed bid to acquire major bits of Warner Bros.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
Instead, he played for a win, sacrificing a knight, but ultimately winning back three pawns in exchange.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
