penultimate
adjective
Did you know?
Penultimate isn't the last word in words for things that are next to last. It has a pair of closely-related noun synonyms: penult and penultima. Although all three concern 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 come 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, as discussed in this video.
Examples of penultimate in a Sentence
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
Josh Wigler, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2025
On their penultimate drive the Spartans stalled at the SJSU 47 when running back Steve Chavez-Soto was stuffed on a fourth-and-1.
—Aaron Johnson, Mercury News, 18 Oct. 2025
In the penultimate episodes of Love Is Blind Season 9, Megan and Jordan have a tense conversation about communication.
—Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 16 Oct. 2025
At 36 minutes before credits, the penultimate episode of Gen V’s second season is its shortest yet.
—Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for penultimate
Cite this Entry
“Penultimate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penultimate. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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