ultimate1 adjectiveultimate2 noun
ultimateul‧ti‧mate1 /ˈʌltəmət/ ●●○ W3 AWL adjective [only before noun] 
WORD ORIGINultimate1
Origin:
1600-1700 Late Latin ultimatus ‘last’, from ultimare ‘to come to an end, be last’, from Latin ultimus ‘farthest, last’, from ulter; ➔ ULTERIOREXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Ultimate responsibility lies with the President.
- For many people, the Rolling Stones will always be the world's ultimate rock and roll band.
- Monroe was the ultimate Hollywood movie star.
- Our first class passengers enjoy the ultimate in luxury and service.
- The ultimate goal of the military was to restore the democratic government.
- At no time can I remember ever being stopped from pursuing an objective which was of ultimate potential gain to the company.
- Even when their offences are of the ultimate gravity, some people are getting off far too lightly.
- Examples of the use of this ultimate sanction are few.
- Its precise origins remain obscure; its ultimate impact on society is necessarily still a matter of conjecture.
- Television is the ultimate fun-house mirror.
- The ultimate determinants of real investment, whether by foreign or domestic firms, remain a contentious issue in economic theory.
- The superb school is superb only by virtue of its success in developing its ultimate customer: the pupil.
Longman Language Activatorbetter than all others
better than anything or anyone else: · The best ice cream in the world is made in Italy.· What's the best way to cook sweet potatoes?by far the best/easily the best (=much better than any others): · It was by far the best vacation I've ever had.somebody's best: · I've read most of his books, but 'Mosquito Coast' is easily his best.
the best and most important that there has ever been: · New Yorkers think they live in the greatest city on earth.· Picasso is generally regarded as the greatest artist of the 20th century.· Gorbachev's greatest achievement was ending the Cold War.
the best and highest quality, or the best and most skilful: · Hemingway was the finest American writer of his generation.· The Silver Pavilion is one of the finest examples of Japanese architecture.· Many people regard Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as his finest work.· The gallery's collection of early Impressionist paintings is one of the world's finest.
the best and most suitable: · The ideal candidate will have a degree and at least two years' experience.· I'm afraid the accommodation here is far from ideal.ideal for: · The conditions are ideal for a day's skiing.ideal for doing something: · The town makes an ideal base for exploring the surrounding countryside.
the most skilful, most successful, and most famous: · He is definitely one of the world's top golfers.· The prize is to have your hair done at a top New York salon.
the person who is most successful in their company or in the type of work that they do: · For three years, he was the company's number one salesman.· Sweden's number one model has married American actor Tommy Haines.
: the place/shop/person/authority etc use this to say that something is the best one of its kind. Pronounce it as 'thee' instead of 'thuh': · Manhattan's East Village is the place for exciting nightlife.· Our guest speaker today is the authority on Chinese politics.
the ultimate person or thing is the very best of their type that there has ever been, and it is hard to believe that anything could ever be better: · Monroe was the ultimate Hollywood movie star.· For many people, the Rolling Stones will always be the world's ultimate rock and roll band.the ultimate in: · Our first-class passengers enjoy the ultimate in luxury and service.
the best that can be achieved or the best for a particular purpose - used especially in scientific contexts: · The optimum temperature for producing steel is around 1200C.
the definitive description, study etc is considered to be the best and cannot be improved - use this about a book or piece of work that is the best of its kind: · Griffin is the author of the definitive travel guide 'France at Your Fingertips'.· This may be the definitive book on the Scarlatti trial.· Many people regard it as the definitive interpretation of 'War and Peace'.
formal if something is unsurpassed , nothing else has ever been better - use this about qualities or achievements: · His genius as a dramatist is unsurpassed.· Venice is a city of unsurpassed beauty.
: a record-breaking result, temperature, time etc is the highest, largest, fastest etc that has ever been achieved: · A record-breaking five hundred thousand people attended the festival. · Record-breaking temperatures are being forecast for the weekend.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
Complete disarmament was the ultimate goal of the conference. Our ultimate objective is to have as many female members of parliament as there are male. The ultimate outcome of the experiment cannot be predicted. The ultimate fate of the tribe was even sadder. The ultimate decision rests with the Public Health Service.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES She received a Grammy Award, the highest accolade in the music business. Captain Oates made the ultimate sacrifice in a bid to save his colleagues.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
Complete disarmament was the ultimate goal of the conference. Our ultimate objective is to have as many female members of parliament as there are male. The ultimate outcome of the experiment cannot be predicted. The ultimate fate of the tribe was even sadder. The ultimate decision rests with the Public Health Service. She received a Grammy Award, the highest accolade in the music business. (=that you hope to achieve in the end)· The ultimate aim is to replace gasoline with non-polluting energy sources.
(=what finally happens to someone)· The ultimate fate of the refugees is in our hands.
(=what they eventually and most importantly hope to achieve)· The ultimate goal is a freer, more democratic society.
(=something you consider a very great luxury)· A hot tub in your own back yard is the ultimate luxury.
(=the worst possible situation)· The ultimate nightmare for any parent is to suffer the loss of a child.
· The final outcome of the investigation is still to be announced.· The ultimate outcome of this controversy remains in doubt.
(=responsibility for making a final decision)· The National Assembly will have ultimate responsibility for ensuring that health targets are met.
Captain Oates made the ultimate sacrifice in a bid to save his colleagues.· He probably accepts that the ultimate accolade for the county cricketer will now remain inaccessible.
· He wanted to train as a chartered accountant with the ultimate aim of becoming a managing director.· The ultimate aim is to replace gasoline altogether by using battery power or other non-polluting energy sources.· The ultimate aim of the counselling process is to achieve significant improvement in the social and interpersonal relationships of the counsellee.· The ultimate aim is to set up a centre every 50 kilometres.· But better patient care is the ultimate aim.· Great strides had been made, but the elimination of poverty, Johnson's ultimate aim, was far from complete.· Her ultimate aim is television stardom.· The ultimate aim of interviewers is to produce a well-completed schedule for every interview assigned to them.
· There are some who argue that sovereignty or ultimate authority can be sliced up and shared around.· But analytically, a political system could exist at any level, even one that does not have ultimate authority.· Local defiance of central government policies and rejection of its ultimate authority overturned traditional conventions of central-local relations.· President Nelson Mandela reportedly has ultimate authority over the remaining operational and research details of the program.· In this case the identity of the ultimate authority remains assured.· The very fact of multiple claims to ultimate authority has had the effect of undermining all of them.· I am sure that the Minister will not be the ultimate authority on these matters.· There is, in short, a conjunction of ultimate authority with ultimate responsibility.
· And so, too, does the ultimate control.· In such ways the party retains ultimate control over appointments, transfers, promotions and discipline.· But even there it is hard to be sure that there was no ultimate control from the temples.· She had insisted on retaining ultimate control.· A neutral presentation would expose the difference and show that the delegation of authority does not imply the forfeiture of ultimate control.
· Alice looked at Kiki, Kiki at Alice, the ultimate decision blooming at long last.· Mr. Patten I can confirm that the ultimate decision is ministerial.· More applications will consequently get through to the ultimate decision makers.· The ultimate decisions will be taken at governmental, even presidential, level.· The ultimate decision concerning who to hire is made by consensus.· The ultimate decision must be made by the Chief Constable himself.· Although a bare majority in his cabinet seemed likely to back him, its ultimate decision could not be predicted early Wednesday.
· All invoices also state the consignment's ultimate destination.· One-way streets are utilized to move autos more smoothly and rapidly through the neighborhoods to their ultimate destination.· Neither does it deny the ageing process, or the ultimate destination of life itself.· Finally, he swims and runs to his ultimate destination.· The cargo's ultimate destination had been printed neatly in black pen in the bottom left-hand corner of the page.· The socialist road had to be adhered to, even though that itself was changing with the ultimate destination now uncertain.· On the far side of the stream another valley led on up into the mountains toward Cobak, his ultimate destination.
· Virtual reality is perhaps the ultimate expression of our human involvement in multimedia information.· It was the ultimate expression of the rational, mechanical approach to giant company administration....· Funakoshi regarded kata as the ultimate expression of his art.
· This had serious implications for the ultimate fate of massive stars.· The ultimate fate of most of this collision debris is to collide again with the satellite from which it was originally ejected.· The ultimate fate of the Mohawks is even sadder.· Its ultimate fate is unknown, although the speed suggests that it was traveling too slowly to escape from Earth.· Still, their ultimate fate is revealing.
· Thus, while each has the same ultimate goal, each chooses a different methodology to achieve it.· Relief from physical distress is the first priority, but it is not the ultimate goal.· One trains in the arts of war, yet the ultimate goal is peace.· While never forgetting that ultimate goal, he constantly shifted tactics to suit changing circumstances.· Making decisions Helping the counsellee to make decisions is the ultimate goal of the counselling process.· In his inaugural address, Carter said his ultimate goal was the elimination of nuclear weapons from the earth.· Elan refuses to say what its ultimate goal is in suing Mayo.· Are we playing well enough to get to the ultimate goal?
· It is this personhood which is the Monster's ultimate objective.· There was one significant qualification; emancipation was the ultimate objective.· My ultimate objective is complete debt cancellation.· The ultimate objectives of this strategy were of course no different from those of previous post-war governments.· Then they should establish sets of year-by-year targets, the achievement of which will carry them forward towards their ultimate objectives.
· If there is any doubt about the ultimate outcome, the proceeding must be left on foot.· The continuing, and heated, judicial debate on racial preference indicates that the ultimate outcome of this controversy remains in doubt.· The tensions can't be avoided and the ultimate outcome can't be predicted.· Work is designed so that it can best be completed by a group, with a group project being the ultimate outcome.· The process of implementation had a large role in determining the ultimate outcomes.
· A majority in either House has the ultimate power to dominate proceedings.· Shamanism is based on the premise that neither 227 human beings nor nature itself hold the ultimate power in the universe.· He had the ultimate power to approve the appointment of generals, admirals and prime ministers.· The ultimate power is a divine one.· In order for there to be a democracy there must be a clearly defined source of ultimate power.· As their grievances were not met, or even acknowledged by the ultimate power in the state -; the Tsar.· It is the best and only basis for strengthening cooperation between the Twelve, while leaving ultimate power with national governments.
· What is important to emphasise is that war is the ultimate purpose for which Soviet society is organised.· And, indeed, our ultimate purpose is to see the opportunities that emerge as this myth is dispelled.· However, often an inflexible approach evolves and the ultimate purpose of the project is lost in paperwork.· My ultimate purpose, here as elsewhere in this book, is to examine the feasibility of making space enterprises self-sufficient.
· But Stern has remained far clear of ever putting the ultimate question.· The ultimate question, however, was what would happen to the steadily accumulating stockpiles of nuclear waste in the long term.· But the ultimate question must be, what do the words of the text mean in our time.· The ultimate question for the court is whether the absence of the covenant changes the contract in character from the original.
· For Marx the material world is the ultimate reality.· Such an analogy suggests that the ultimate reality is an impersonal entity rather than a personal being.· He recognizes that every religion has within its depth a clue to the meaning of ultimate reality.· Above all, it imposed norms of order and limitation to conceal the Dionysiac revelation of contradiction and excess as ultimate realities.· An exquisite unreality catches the earth, or perhaps it is the ultimate reality.· Was matter, or reason, the ultimate reality?· My rejection of death was less a denial than a postponement of the recognition of its ultimate reality.· The question arises as to what he was describing - ultimate reality or the life of men?
· I accept that the Secretary of State will have the ultimate responsibility because he will have to approve each sale.· They may manipulate and grow rich off the rezonings, but the ultimate responsibility is ours.· Conflicting official versions of the circumstances of the assassination fed doubts as to where ultimate responsibility lay.· Teaching values to the young is always a tough job, and the ultimate responsibility falls on parents.· However, it is the housewife's ultimate responsibility to see that all tasks get done properly.· The ultimate responsibility for determining rewards falls back on those who receive them.· There is, in short, a conjunction of ultimate authority with ultimate responsibility.· It is parents who have the ultimate responsibility for making the education process work for their children.
· In that sense I suppose I am making the ultimate sacrifice.· The ultimate sacrifice and the 100-meter backstroke.· Also there, Captain Oates, the man who was to make the ultimate sacrifice in a bid to save his colleagues.· This might appear to be the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the colony, but all the bees in the colony are genetically related.
· Examples of the use of this ultimate sanction are few.· The ultimate sanction may be for them to sack the person whom they regard as being mainly to blame.· Only if its many controls fail will the ultimate sanction, i.e. revocation of the disposal licence, be invoked.· War as the ultimate sanction was not a credible solution.· The ultimate sanction is financial: an additional award of compensation.
· Authority, like power, has an ultimate source.· Such an approach, though useful, is limited: it fails to recognize the ultimate source of the violence.· As to the ultimate source of the fields, he is open to three propositions, each of them metaphysically grounded. 1.· The dust therefore cuts off the ultimate source of the disturbance that raises more dust.· The ultimate source, therefore, of the theories must lie in experiments and the need to interpret such experiments.· Such massifs are the ultimate source of sandstones in the United Kingdom.· In fact, the ultimate source of value in literature as in society was moral authority.
· The ultimate success of the Programme will depend on the widespread knowledge and understanding of the Council's procedures and philosophy.· Finding the right message for Clinton was an essential element in his ultimate success.· The ultimate success rate and rebleeding rate of these two endoscopists were comparable.· Gore's people remain, for the record, very confident of their ultimate success.
· The ultimate test for a barrier, of course, is to get a local cyclist to try it out.· This legacy has endured because the ultimate test in government is not performance, but reelection.· I think that's the ultimate test of reflexes, and will.· Love is the ultimate test of a good mentor.· Of all the skills, riding was the ultimate test and the one the team viewed with the least enthusiasm.· Democracy is going to meet its ultimate test when it has to confront the economic demands of the elderly.
· Such vivid, metaphoric language epitomizes and illustrates the ultimate truths and values of the police world.· Thus, for Melville, we see that the sea is symbolic of all ultimate truths of the world.
· Those who shared his belief in the ultimate weapon, Pentagon chiefs and Congressional hawks, put pressure on the President.· The violence is only the exercise of an ultimate weapon available to men.· The army, the Tsar's ultimate weapon, was commanded by noblemen.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- Also there, Captain Oates, the man who was to make the ultimate sacrifice in a bid to save his colleagues.
- He evidently thought his life was so valuable that some one would surely save it even at the cost of the supreme sacrifice.
- In that sense I suppose I am making the ultimate sacrifice.
- These were people who showed courage, faith, and were an example to all by making the supreme sacrifice.
- This might appear to be the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the colony, but all the bees in the colony are genetically related.
- We felt that it was a great tribute to us and all our many comrades who made the supreme sacrifice.
- You made the supreme sacrifice of your life for your work last night, so don't be shy about admitting it.
WORD FAMILYnounultimateadjectiveultimateadverbultimately
1someone’s ultimate aim is their main and most important aim, that they hope to achieve in the future SYN finalultimate goal/aim/objective etc Complete disarmament was the ultimate goal of the conference. Our ultimate objective is to have as many female members of parliament as there are male.2the ultimate result of a long process is what happens at the end of it: The ultimate outcome of the experiment cannot be predicted. The ultimate fate of the tribe was even sadder. the ultimate failure of the project3if you have ultimate responsibility for something, you are the person who must make the important final decisions about it: The ultimate responsibility for policy lies with the president. The ultimate decision rests with the Public Health Service.4better, bigger, worse etc than all other things or people of the same kind: The Rolling Stones are the ultimate rock and roll band. The female nude is surely the ultimate test of artistic skill.ultimate1 adjectiveultimate2 noun
ultimateultimate2 noun COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Guy’s home is the ultimate in luxury.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES She received a Grammy Award, the highest accolade in the music business. Captain Oates made the ultimate sacrifice in a bid to save his colleagues.
Guy’s home is the ultimate in luxury. She received a Grammy Award, the highest accolade in the music business. (=that you hope to achieve in the end)· The ultimate aim is to replace gasoline with non-polluting energy sources.
(=what finally happens to someone)· The ultimate fate of the refugees is in our hands.
(=what they eventually and most importantly hope to achieve)· The ultimate goal is a freer, more democratic society.
(=something you consider a very great luxury)· A hot tub in your own back yard is the ultimate luxury.
(=the worst possible situation)· The ultimate nightmare for any parent is to suffer the loss of a child.
· The final outcome of the investigation is still to be announced.· The ultimate outcome of this controversy remains in doubt.
(=responsibility for making a final decision)· The National Assembly will have ultimate responsibility for ensuring that health targets are met.
Captain Oates made the ultimate sacrifice in a bid to save his colleagues.PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- But he was the ultimate in loyalty, drawn to his boss by her entrepreneurial courage, her charismatic capitalism.
- For those members to support Gingrich after his ethical lapses became such big news is the ultimate in loyalty.
- Moonlite Bay burned to the ground in 1954, but for Mr Berge, it still is the ultimate in swank.
- Natural filled duvets are more expensive and those filled with duck down, are considered the ultimate in luxury duvets.
- Team eye-catching checks and a fitted blouse with a sweetheart neckline, for the ultimate in 50s glamour.
- This is the ultimate in cluster thinking, the cluster country.
- This year, for the ultimate in flexibility, Citalia has expanded the choice of city holiday durations.
- True, it can be tiring to live through this silly joke phase, but this is the ultimate in language education.
- Also there, Captain Oates, the man who was to make the ultimate sacrifice in a bid to save his colleagues.
- He evidently thought his life was so valuable that some one would surely save it even at the cost of the supreme sacrifice.
- In that sense I suppose I am making the ultimate sacrifice.
- These were people who showed courage, faith, and were an example to all by making the supreme sacrifice.
- This might appear to be the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the colony, but all the bees in the colony are genetically related.
- We felt that it was a great tribute to us and all our many comrades who made the supreme sacrifice.
- You made the supreme sacrifice of your life for your work last night, so don't be shy about admitting it.
WORD FAMILYnounultimateadjectiveultimateadverbultimately
the ultimate in something the best or most modern example of something: The plane was the ultimate in air technology in the '60s. Guy’s home is the ultimate in luxury.