ultimatevsultimeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ultimate is a noun, ultime is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ultimate” is a noun and “ultime” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,725
“ultimate” frequency rank
#4,535
“ultime” frequency rank
28260
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ultimate ultime
Definition Sport collectif utilisant un disque (frisbee) opposant deux équipes de sept joueurs. Dernier, final, le plus éloigné possible.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ultimate and ultime apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
ultimate
6 ch
ultime

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ultimate is \yl.ti.mɛt\ while ultime is \yl.tim\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28260, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ultimate is recorded at frequency rank #23,725, classified as anoun, pronounced \yl.ti.mɛt\. ultime is at rank #4,535, tagged as anadj, pronounced \yl.tim\.

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 28260, this pair ranks #323,920 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ultimate vs ultime

Shared letters: eilmtu. Private to "ultimate": a. Private to "ultime": -.

"ultimate" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "ultime" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ultimatelutimate · ulitmate · ulltimate · ultiamte · ultimaet · ultimatte · ultimmate · ultimtae
  • ultimelutime · ulitme · ulltime · ultiem · ultimme · ultmie · ulttime · utlime

Frequency comparison

ultimate#23,725
ultime#4,535

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ultimate" and "ultime" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ultimate" is a noun and "ultime" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "ultimate" or "ultime"?
"ultime" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,535 in our French list, against #23,725 for "ultimate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ultimate vs ultime

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ultimate”; for an adjective, it's “ultime”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ultimate” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list