penultimate

/pɪˈnʌltɪmət/

//pɪˈnʌltɪmət// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"penultimate" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“penultimate” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,875. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,875
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
16
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.

Corpus desk

Index EN-penultimate · penultimate · English

penultimate · rank #25,875 · 16 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,875
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pane

Nearest frequency peer: pane (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “penultimate”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “penultimate” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for penultimate
PropertyValue
Headwordpenultimate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/pɪˈnʌltɪmət/
Letters11
Frequency rank#25,875
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “penultimate”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).penultimatelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “pane” (#25,874), “peppermint” (#25,876), “percentile” (#25,877). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “penultimate” is #25,875. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around penultimate (IPA /pɪˈnʌltɪmət/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #25,875 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for penultimate, with forms such as "epnultimate", "penlutimate", and "pennultimate". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Latin paene Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Italic *-tm̥mos Proto-Italic *oltm̥mos Latin ultimus Latin paenultimus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos … The correct English form is penultimate, spelled P-E-N-U-L-T-I-M-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.
  2. 2
    Of or pertaining to a penult.
  3. 3
    Relating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form.
  4. 4
    pre-eminent, ultimate, best; par excellence, top-quality

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how penultimate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. […] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]
  2. But it should frequently happen that offspring should resemble its penultimate rather than its latest phase, and should thus be more like a grand-parent than a parent.

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin paene Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Italic *-tm̥mos Proto-Italic *oltm̥mos Latin ultimus Latin paenultimus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātuslbor. English -ate English penultimate From Latin paenultimus (“penultimate”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), from paene (“almost”) + ultimus (“last”). Equivalent to pene- + ultimate. Compare French pénultième.

Synonyms

next to lastnext-to-lastsecond to lastsecond-to-lastsecond from lastsecond-from-lastsecond lastsecond-lastlast but onelast penultimate but one

Antonyms

second

This word in other languages

penúltimo(Español)avant-dernier(Français)vorletzte(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epnultimate
  • penlutimate
  • pennultimate
  • penulitmate
  • penulltimate
  • penultiamte
  • penultimaet
  • penultimatte
  • penultimmate
  • penultimtae
  • penultmiate
  • penulttimate
  • penutlimate
  • peunltimate
  • pneultimate
  • ppenultimate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of penultimate - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

epnultimate2penlutimate2pennultimate1penulitmate2penulltimate1penultiamte2penultimaet2penultimatte1
Edit distance from "penultimate"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "penultimate"?
"penultimate" is spelled P-E-N-U-L-T-I-M-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /pɪˈnʌltɪmət/.
What does "penultimate" mean?
As an adjective, "penultimate" means: Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.
What are common misspellings of "penultimate"?
Common misspellings include "epnultimate", "penlutimate", "pennultimate", "penulitmate", "penulltimate". The correct spelling is "penultimate".
How do you pronounce "penultimate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "penultimate" is /pɪˈnʌltɪmət/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "penultimate"?
Etymology tree Latin paene Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Italic *-tm̥mos Proto-Italic *oltm̥mos Latin ultimus Latin paenultimus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Ital... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "penultimate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

overcrowded#25,870pleasurable#25,886maneuvering#25,835leaderboard#25,818

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

respondent16 variantsresumption16 variantsarchdiocese16 variantsdispensing16 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list