last; furthest or farthest; ending a process or series:
the ultimate point in a journey; the ultimate style in hats.
2.
maximum; decisive; conclusive:
the ultimate authority; the ultimate weapon.
3.
highest; not subsidiary:
ultimate goal in life.
4.
basic; fundamental; representing a limit beyond which further progress, as in investigation or analysis, is impossible:
the ultimate particle; ultimate principles.
5.
final; total:
the ultimate consequences; the ultimate cost of a project.
6.
not to be improved upon or surpassed; greatest; unsurpassed:
the ultimate vacation spot; the ultimate stupidity.
noun
7.
the final point; final result.
8.
a fundamental fact or principle.
9.
the best, greatest, or most extreme of its kind.
Origin
1645-55; < Late Latinultimātus (past participle of ultimāre to come to an end), equivalent to Latinultim(us) last, most distant (see ultima) + -ātus-ate1
1. extreme, remotest, uttermost. 2. supreme. 5. See last1 .
Antonyms
5. first.
Examples from the web for ultimate
Now astronomers think of them as the ultimate stellar swan song.
It seems to me that the ultimate solution will have to be going from surveys to actual observations.
The ultimate goal is to grow beating heart muscle from a patient's own cells.
However there must be some middle ground between reporting diarrhoea and waiting for ultimate certainty.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate all wire leads, making the pacemaker easier to implant.
To have the fate of loved ones known with certainty, to bring them home at last to the country they served, is our ultimate wish.
The trip was not easy and many died along the way, but their ultimate success inspired others.
Jellyfish should be celebrated as one of our planet's ultimate survivalists.
His ultimate political ideal included nothing short of the welfare and the commercial federation of the world.
The ultimate result is that each creature tends to become more and more improved in relation to its conditions.
British Dictionary definitions for ultimate
ultimate
/ˈʌltɪmɪt/
adjective
1.
conclusive in a series or process; last; final: an ultimate question
2.
the highest or most significant: the ultimate goal
3.
elemental, fundamental, basic, or essential
4.
most extreme: genocide is the ultimate abuse of human rights
5.
final or total: an ultimate cost of twenty million pounds
noun
6.
the most significant, highest, furthest, or greatest thing
Derived Forms
ultimateness, noun
Word Origin
C17: from Late Latin ultimāre to come to an end, from Latin ultimus last, from ulter distant
Word Origin and History for ultimate
adj.
1650s, from Late Latin ultimatus, past participle of ultimare "to be final, come to an end," from ultimus "last, final," superlative of *ulter "beyond" (see ultra-). Ultimate Frisbee is attested from 1972.