ultimate

Pluralultimates

Formsultimates, ultimating, ultimated

1. 1
   adjective

   Being the greatest possible in degree or extent; maximum.

   The race car represents the ultimate in automotive engineering.

   For many chefs, this knife is the ultimate kitchen tool.

   Similarsupreme, best, greatest, perfect, definitive

   Note

   Here the word stops naming position and starts naming degree, and it works in either direction: the ultimate pleasure, the ultimate disappointment. Unlike the "last in a series" meaning, it is not strictly incomparable, so more ultimate and most ultimate do exist. They sit awkwardly, though, because the word already names the top of the scale.

2. 2
   adjective

   Final; the last in a series.

   The committee scheduled the project's ultimate review for December.

   We reached the ultimate stop on the bus route.

   Similarfinal, last, concluding, closing, terminal

   Oppositefirst, initial, opening

   Note

   Latin sits right on the surface here: Medieval Latin ultimatus, built on ultimus, "last," and kin to ultra-. Robert Plot, describing echoes in 1677, lines it up with its neighbors: the ultimate, then the penultimate, then the antepenultimate. That is this sense's natural habitat, counting back from the end of a sequence. Outside such a series, final or last usually sounds plainer.

3. 3
   adjective

   Bound to happen at some point in time; eventual.

   Analysts predicted the ultimate collapse of the housing market.

   Their ultimate victory came only after a decade of effort.

   Similareventual, inevitable, final

4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The greatest extremity or the highest possible degree of something.

   For pure comfort, this mattress is the ultimate.

   When it comes to raw speed, that engine is the ultimate.

   Similarepitome, pinnacle, peak, acme, height

5. 5
   adjective

   Situated at the greatest distance or at the outermost extreme.

   The probe reached the ultimate boundary of the solar system.

   Sailors once feared the ultimate limits of the uncharted ocean.

   Similarfarthest, furthest, outermost, remotest, extreme

   Oppositenearest, innermost

6. 6
   adjective

   Last in a chain of progression or consequences; the final result toward which all that precedes tends.

   The treaty marked the ultimate result of long diplomatic effort.

   Extinction was the ultimate consequence of the changing climate.

   Similarfinal, eventual

   Oppositeimmediate, proximate

   Note

   Philosophy's favorite use: the end that a whole chain of reasoning or causes arrives at. Coleridge's Aids to Reflection (1825) speaks of "those ultimate truths and those universal laws of thought which we cannot rationally contradict." Unlike the "eventual" meaning, which looks ahead in time, this one traces a chain of consequences and names where it ends.

7. 7
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The point at which something finally ends or reaches its farthest extent.

   In his philosophy, perfect knowledge was the ultimate toward which all study moved.

   The retirement party marked the ultimate of her long career.

   Similarend, culmination, conclusion, goal, close

   Oppositebeginning, start (entry), outset

8. 8
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The element of a group that is more fundamental than all the others.

   Philosophers debated whether matter or mind was the ultimate of reality.

   For her, freedom remained the ultimate of all political principles.

   Similarbasis, foundation, essence, cornerstone

9. 9
   adjective

   Incapable of further analysis, division, or separation; constituent; elemental.

   Physicists sought the ultimate particles from which everything is made.

   The theory posits ultimate constituents that cannot be subdivided.

   Similarfundamental, elemental, basic, elementary, irreducible

   Note

   An analyst's word for what remains when division can go no further. Its home collocation is ultimate constituent, as in an ultimate constituent of matter, and it pairs naturally with elemental. Keep it apart from the "greatest possible" meaning. An ultimate particle in this sense is the simplest, smallest thing there is, not the most impressive.

10. 10
    adjective

    Coming at the very end of a word or of some other unit of speech.

    Linguists noted that the accent shifts to the ultimate syllable.

    The ultimate consonant of the phrase is barely pronounced.

    Similarfinal, last

    Oppositeinitial, first

11. 11
    noununcountableabbreviationellipsis

    Short form of ultimate frisbee or ultimate disc.

    After work, they meet up to play ultimate on the field.

    The club hosts ultimate tournaments throughout the summer.

    Note

    Trademark law shaped this name. The sport was renamed to sidestep the Frisbee trademark, which is why ultimate disc stands beside ultimate frisbee and why the clipped form is so useful. It is an uncountable noun with no article: you play ultimate, join an ultimate team, or enter ultimate tournaments.

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