Which to use
“ultimate” is an adjective and “ultimátum” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,593
- “ultimate” frequency rank
- #25,480
- “ultimátum” frequency rank
- 54073
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ultimate | ultimátum |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Final, último de una serie. | En el lenguaje diplomático, resolución terminante y definitiva, comunicada por escrito. |
Where the eye mixes ultimate and ultimátum
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ultimate runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCV) against ultimátum's 9 (VCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ultimate vs ultimátum
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ultimate is /ˈʌl.tɪ.mɪt/ while ultimátum is [ul̪t̪iˈmat̪ũm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54073, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ultimate is recorded at frequency rank #28,593, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈʌl.tɪ.mɪt/. ultimátum is at rank #25,480, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ul̪t̪iˈmat̪ũm].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 54073, this pair ranks #84,916 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ultimate vs ultimátum
Shared letters: ilmtu. Private to "ultimate": ae. Private to "ultimátum": á.
"ultimate" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV · "ultimátum" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ultimate ← lutimate · ulitmate · ulltimate · ultiamte · ultimaet · ultimatte · ultimmate · ultimtae
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ultimate" and "ultimátum" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ultimate" or "ultimátum"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ultimate" and "ultimátum" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ultimate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ultimátum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #84,916 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ultimate" and "ultimátum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ultimas vs ultimate". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #84,916 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.