umpteenth

adjective

ump·​teenth ˈəm(p)-ˌtēn(t)th 

ˌəm(p)-ˈtēn(t)th

: latest or last in an indefinitely numerous series

Wiping mashed banana out of your toddler's hair for the umpteenth time can be—let's face it—tedious and irritating.

—Bonnie Schiedel

"No," said James, pulling on his umpteenth cigarette …

—Redmond O'Hanlon

… the umpteenth wet and dreary day of a peculiar California winter …

—Jane Fritsch

Did you know?

"I'll go to bed and I'll not get up for umpty-eleven months." You know the feeling. The speaker here is war-weary Bill, a character in Patrick MacGill's early 20th-century novel The Great Push. His "umpty" originated as military slang around 1905 and stood for an indefinite number, generally largish. (It was probably created by analogy to actual numbers such as "twenty.") Soon, there followed "umpteen," blending "umpty" and "-teen." "Umpteen" usually describes an indefinite and large number or amount, while the related "umpteenth" is used for the latest or last in an indefinitely numerous series. We only occasionally use "umpty" these days (and even more rarely "umptieth"), but you're bound to hear or read "umpteen" and "umpteenth" any number of times.

Examples of umpteenth in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After his umpteenth comeback, director Robert Altman almost immediately ruined his career again with this tepid, unwieldy multicharacter satire of the fashion world. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025

An umpteenth countdown on Saturday revealed another variant drop, her ninth. —Bryan West, USA Today, 5 Oct. 2025

There’s undeniable comfort in a bowl of warm buttered noodles, but by the umpteenth time eating one, its simplicity in flavor becomes expectedly boring. —Jesse Szewczyk, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 Sep. 2025

This makes for a good, if not great, season overall, and one that will seamlessly slot in amid your umpteenth rewatch of the whole series. —Evan Bell, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

umpteen + -th entry 2

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for umpteenth

• eighteenth
• fifteenth
• fourteenth
• nineteenth
• sixteenth
• thirteenth
• seventeenth