summit 1 of 2

summit

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun summit differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of summit are acme, apex, climax, culmination, peak, and pinnacle. While all these words mean "the highest point attained or attainable," summit implies the topmost level attainable.

at the summit of the Victorian social scene

When could acme be used to replace summit?

The words acme and summit are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, acme implies a level of quality representing the perfection of a thing.

a statue that was once deemed the acme of beauty

When might apex be a better fit than summit?

In some situations, the words apex and summit are roughly equivalent. However, apex implies the point where all ascending lines converge.

the apex of Dutch culture

When can climax be used instead of summit?

While in some cases nearly identical to summit, climax implies the highest point in an ascending series.

the war was the climax to a series of hostile actions

When would culmination be a good substitute for summit?

Although the words culmination and summit have much in common, culmination suggests the outcome of a growth or development representing an attained objective.

the culmination of years of effort

When is it sensible to use peak instead of summit?

While the synonyms peak and summit are close in meaning, peak suggests the highest among other high points.

an artist working at the peak of her powers

Where would pinnacle be a reasonable alternative to summit?

The synonyms pinnacle and summit are sometimes interchangeable, but pinnacle suggests a dizzying and often insecure height.

the pinnacle of worldly success

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of summit
Noun
When summiting asphalt imperfections like that, the curious shape of that central OLED really shone. ArsTechnica, 2 Sep. 2025 None other than Peter Hillary, son of the great Sir Edmund Hillary, first to summit Mt. Everest with Tenzing Norgay, in 1953. Jim Clash, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
Verb
Neon’s Tom Quinn will be in attendance this year to receive the summit’s Game Changer Award, following in the footsteps of the likes of Oscar-winner Patrick Wachsberger (CODA), Co-Chair & CEO Warner Bros. The Deadline Team, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025 And when his claims about a lobbyist infiltrating the summit bear out, Alex winds up breaking a story that makes news that evening. Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 24 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for summit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for summit
Noun
  • Just as Russ is about to reach the pinnacle of college athletic achievement, a pair of blunders torpedo the season, his public image and his future professional career.
    Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 26 Sep. 2025
  • The special ops line The special operations line of power tools represents the pinnacle of underwater tool engineering.
    Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 24 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Janney joined The Diplomat in the show’s second season, playing Vice President Grace Penn — who (spoiler alert) will be ascending to the presidency following the death of President William Rayburn (Michael McKean) in the final moments of the season.
    Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 26 Sep. 2025
  • These breaks had been established as a tradition ever since Charles ascended to the throne.
    Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Remove parchment circle from top of pie.
    Staff Author, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Sep. 2025
  • Store in a freezer-safe zip-top bag or airtight container, and label and date before freezing.
    Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 28 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Second, Tesla’s training approach, shifting toward vision-only imitation learning from human camera data, represents a strategic attempt to scale skill acquisition without hand-crafting controllers for each task.
    Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 26 Sep. 2025
  • The rough estimate, cited by Vice President JD Vance on Thursday, pales in comparison to previous estimates that scaled closer to $40 billion.
    Bloomberg, Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • In other words, at its post-Diana zenith, the support for the monarchy was there but had gone soft.
    Jack Royston, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Sep. 2025
  • Classical When Franz Liszt was at the zenith of his fame in the nineteenth century, his fans were so enthralled by his good looks and talent that his mere presence created an atmosphere of mass hysteria.
    Richard Brody, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • However, the technological hurdles SpaceX must surmount to bring Starship to fruition are immense, noted Garrett Reisman, a former NASA astronaut and SpaceX consultant who is a professor of astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California.
    Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Probably would be tough to surmount the December high near $259 very soon, given the interplay of valuation (back above 30-times forward earnings) and modest growth profile.
    Michael Santoli, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Having finished the 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado and California’s Sierra Range — including Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the Lower 48 states at 14,500 feet — the next stop for the renowned Spanish endurance athlete is Mount Shasta in northern California, near the Oregon border.
    John Meyer, Denver Post, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Plus, enjoy a special sneak peak of the Below Deck Down Under premiere, featuring the The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cross-over charter.
    Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Place the chicken in front of you, breast up, with the neck pointing away from you.
    Peter Barrett, Outside Online, 9 June 2025
  • Its superiority was passed like a shibboleth among food connoisseurs: Thighs are juicier, tastier, are almost half the price—preferable in just about every way to the boneless, skinless, flavorless breasts that reign supreme in America.
    Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Summit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/summit. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

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