penultimate

adjective

pen·​ul·​ti·​mate pi-ˈnəl-tə-mət How to pronounce penultimate (audio)
1
: next to the last
the penultimate chapter of a book
2
: of or relating to the next to the last syllable of a word
a penultimate accent
penultimately adverb

Did you know?

Penultimate isn't the last word in words for things that are next to last. There is a pair of noun synonyms that are used commonly enough to have gained entry into abridged dictionaries: penult and penultima. Although all three can refer to something that's next to last, penult and penultima are usually a bit more specific; they are used most often to identify the next to last syllable of a word. All three derive from paenultima, the feminine of paenultimus, a Latin root from paene ("almost") and ultimus ("last"). You may occasionally hear the word penultimate used as an intensified version of ultimate, as in "a race they've called 'the penultimate challenge.'" This use isn't typically found in edited prose, however, or in dictionaries. One of our editors discusses it in this video.

Examples of penultimate in a Sentence

Belle was the penultimate person to die, just hours before a slave, fifty-three-year-old Alba, wandered in delirium away from his cabin and sat down to death in front of Carlyle's airing-out cottage. Edward P. Jones, The Known World, 2003
He threw harder in the last inning than he did in the first, whiffing pinch hitter Darryl Strawberry with a 97-mph heater for the penultimate out and blowing away the final hitter, Knoblauch, with a 96-mph fastball. Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated, 27 Mar. 2000
… regulations have cleared the penultimate hurdle and appear ready to become law … John Aloysius Farrell, Sunday Denver (CO) Post, 2 Sept. 1984
Pompey … speaks of her mother's difficult death and of her own longings for death and rises to a rare moment of lyric power in the novel's penultimate paragraph. Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times Book Review, 3 Oct. 1982
the penultimate syllable of the word
Recent Examples on the Web The penultimate episode of season 20 of Grey's Anatomy was a night full of hard truths coming to the surface. Stephanie Wenger, Peoplemag, 24 May 2024 Advertisement But in the season’s penultimate episode, written by Terence Winter and directed by Tim Van Patten, Silvio (Steven Van Zandt) took Adriana on a one-way drive into the woods. Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for penultimate 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'penultimate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

see penult

First Known Use

1677, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of penultimate was in 1677

Podcast

Dictionary Entries Near penultimate

Cite this Entry

“Penultimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penultimate. Accessed 3 Jun. 2024.

Kids Definition

penultimate

adjective
pen·​ul·​ti·​mate pi-ˈnəl-tə-mət How to pronounce penultimate (audio)
: next to the last
penultimate noun
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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