ultimate
ul·tim·ate/ˈʌltɪmət/adjective, noun
ultimate is spelled U-L-T-I-M-A-T-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables (ul·tim·ate). It appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ultimate means “Final; last in a series” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ultimate?
| Letters | 8: U-L-T-I-M-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ul·tim·ate |
| In writing | 34 times per million words; the 2,831st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ultimate?
Ultimate appears 34 times per million words in written English, the 2,831st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ultimate?
- US /ˈʌltɪmət/
- US /-ɪt/
Ultimate has 3 syllables, split ul·tim·ate in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-ultimate.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ultimate.wav, En-us-ultimate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ultimate?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as ultimate (/ʌltɪmət/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: mutilate.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ultimate
- more ultimate comparative
- most ultimate superlative
- ultimates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- ultimating participle, present
- ultimated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ultimate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Final; last in a series.
- 2
Last in a word or other utterance.
- 3
Being the greatest possible; maximum; most extreme.
the ultimate pleasure
- 4
Being the most distant or extreme; farthest.
- 5
That will happen at some time; eventual.
- 6
Last in a train of progression or consequences; tended toward by all that precedes; arrived at, as the last result; final.
- 7
Incapable of further analysis; incapable of further division or separation; constituent; elemental.
an ultimate constituent of matter
noun
- 1
The most basic or fundamental of a set of things
- 2
The final or most distant point; the conclusion
- 3
The greatest extremity; the maximum
- 4
Ellipsis of ultimate frisbee or ultimate disc.
verb
- 1
archaicTo finish; to complete.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ultimate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dernier |
| German | ultimativ , äußerster |
| Portuguese | último, última , derradeiro |
| Spanish | último , mayor, ultimado , ultimar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.