Log in or Sign up
  1. penultimate love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Next to last.
  2. adj. Linguistics Of or relating to the penult of a word: penultimate stress.
  3. n. The next to the last.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Immediately preceding that member of a series which is the last; next before the last; being the last but one: as, the penultimate syllable; the penultimate joint. Compare antepenultimate.
  2. n. That member of a series which is the last but one; specifically, the last syllable but one of a word.
  3. n. In whist and bridge, the lowest but one of a suit.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. formal Coming next-to-last in a sequence.
  2. adj. linguistics Of or pertaining to a penult.
  3. n. this sense?) A next-to-last thing.
  4. n. linguistics A next-to-last syllable in a linguistic unit.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Last but one.
  2. n. The penult.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. the next to last syllable in a word
  2. adj. next to the last

Etymologies

  1. From Latin paenultimus, from paene ("almost") + ultimus ("last"). (Wiktionary)
  2. From Latin paenultimus; see penult. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

Show 10 more examples...

Log in or sign up to add your own related words.

synonyms (2)

Words with the same meaning

  1. second last
  1. next-to-last

equivalents (1)

Other words for ‘penultimate’

  1. intermediate

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. syllable

same context (18)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. climactic
  2. pupal
  3. unstressed
  1. prefatory
  2. unaccented
  3. larval
  1. four-line
  2. arte
  3. orotund
  1. eleventh
  2. introductory
  3. consecutive
  1. ninth
  2. parasitoid
  3. amatory
  1. run-on
  2. crebris
  3. hindmost

rhymes (1)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. ultimate

reverse dictionary (20)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. penultimate
  2. penacute
  3. sanglot
  4. paroxytone
  1. properispome
  2. propygidium
  3. arthrium
  4. penult
  1. barytone
  2. junior class
  3. propodite
  4. calamistrum
  1. chela
  2. evarthrus
  3. hypophysis
  4. laconic
  1. papilliferous
  2. pronunciation
  3. summit
  4. tibia

tags (1)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. cvcvccvcvcv

Log in or sign up to add your own tag.

tagging (1)

Words tagged ‘penultimate’

  1. second to last

Wordmap

(beta)

Word visualization

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘penultimate’.

More lists containing ‘penultimate’

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Louises The last hour had taken me into the penultimate phase, the wolf looking out through human eyes with quiet blazing animal alertness. From "The Last Werewolf" by Glen Duncan.


    Mar 28, 2012

  • Telofy What happened to my dear Unicode? :-o Nov 6, 2009

  • Telofy /p??n?lt?m?t/ looks like an error. A stressed schwa?
    Random House says /p??n?lt?m?t/ which not only looks more reasonable but also agrees with my printed version of the Heritage Dictionary (including the /?/s and schwas in the unstressed syllables). Nov 5, 2009

  • walkerslaw I think many people assume penultimate to be a cross between pinnacle and ultimate. In that sense, Nigel from Spinal Tap could have said, "this amplifier is the penultimate." Oct 28, 2009

  • eggoabbas This word is often taken to somehow mean "super-ultimate" as if the "pen" syllable where an intensifier. This dilutes the usefulness of actual meaning, but it is a very common usage nonetheless. Jun 27, 2009

  • quotato He who laughs last does not laugh penultimately. Jun 24, 2009

  • jeffrey.t.whitney My all-time, most hated type of speech is execubabble. For example, the (?word?) 'incentivize'.

    It's not a @#!#@#@! word!!!

    It is a noun, not a #@#!#@!@ verb!! Stop with the verbification!!! (To quote a term coined by Grammar Girl). Jun 11, 2009

  • smrtrthnu the word is so misunderstood... Oct 17, 2008

  • mollusque In the left atrium? Sep 23, 2008

  • wackyvorlon People who use the word penultimate properly hold a special place in my heart. Sep 22, 2008

  • dubek One of wife's favourties. Jan 19, 2008

  • rawles The use of literally to mean figuratively makes me lose a little more faith in humanity every time I hear it. May 23, 2007

  • trivet Likewise on both accounts, with extra cringes for the recent fad of belligerent used as a synonym for drunk/intoxicated. *huuuhg* May 21, 2007

  • reesetee Yes! AAAAAARGH! I literally cringe when I hear that. ;-) May 21, 2007

  • uselessness Literally, when whatever's being described is the exact opposite of literal. May 21, 2007

  • reesetee And the first (just out of curiosity)? May 21, 2007

  • uselessness That's got to be the second-worst language mistake I hear people make all the time. May 21, 2007

  • rawles Meaning "next to last" not "super ultimate" as people often seem to assume. May 20, 2007

Tweets

Looking for tweets for penultimate.

‘penultimate’ has been looked up 5858 times, loved by 25 people, added to 183 lists, commented on 18 times, and has a Scrabble score of 15.