penultimate
adjective
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
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
David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Apr. 2025
The penultimate episode ended with Dr. Cassie McKay (Fiona Dourif) getting handcuffed by police for disabling her ankle monitor.
—Randall Colburn, EW.com, 11 Apr. 2025
With 55 minutes played against Manchester City in the penultimate round of the Champions League’s new league phase, PSG were trailing 2-0 and a humiliating early exit loomed large.
—Tom Williams, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
The deadly penultimate episode of this season saw Renaud and his partner (Jamie McShane) murdering both the love of Teonna’s life, Pete Plenty Clouds (Jeremy Gauna), and her father, Runs His Horse (Michael Spears), adding to the lengthy list of people Teonna has lost while fighting for her freedom.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 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 26 Apr. 2025.
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