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Meaning of ultimate in English

ultimate
adjective [ before noun ]
us
/ˈʌl.tə.mət/ uk
/ˈʌl.tɪ.mət/
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B2
most extreme or important because either the original or final, or the best or worst:
Of course the ultimate responsibility for the present conflict without doubt lies with the aggressor.
My manager will make the ultimate decision about who to employ.
Infidelity is the ultimate betrayal.
the ultimate luxury cruiser
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Final and finally
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

ultimate
noun
us
/ˈʌl.tə.mət/ uk
/ˈʌl.tɪ.mət/
the ultimate in something
the best or most extreme example of something:
The hotel is described as "the ultimate in luxury."
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ultimate noun (GAME)

[ U ]
another spelling of
Ultimate
noun [ U ]
(also ultimate)
us
/ˌʌl.tə.mət ˈfrɪz.bi/ uk
/ˈʌl.tɪ.mət/
(also Ultimate Frisbee, ultimate frisbee, ultimate Frisbee, uk/ˌʌl.tɪ.mət ˈfrɪz.bi/)

Ultimate noun [U] (GAME)

a sport in which two teams of seven players throw a Frisbee (= a circular piece of plastic) to other members of their team and score points by getting the Frisbee into an area at the end of the playing area:
He's looking to find new people eager to play Ultimate.
She started playing ultimate a few years ago, and organized a team to enter the competition.
He and other students would get together to play Ultimate Frisbee.
I love to play any kind of sports, from basketball to ultimate frisbee.
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(Definition of ultimate from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

ultimate | Intermediate English

ultimate
adjective [ not gradable ]
us
/ˈʌl·tə·mət/
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most important, highest, last, or final:
Your ultimate goal is to play the game as well as you can.
Ultimate also means the best, most, or greatest of its kind:
Some people believe that he is the ultimate painter of this century.

ultimate

noun [ U ] us
/ˈʌl·tə·mət/
Winning was the ultimate, because our team had never won before.
(Definition of ultimate from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

ultimate | Business English

ultimate
adjective
uk
/ˈʌltɪmət/ us
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last in a series:
The CEO is responsible for making the ultimate decision.
We are stopping off in Brussels and Cairo, but our ultimate destination is Chennai.
having more importance or more influence over what happens than all others:
ultimate goal/aim Only one in 100 workers will achieve the ultimate goal and retire on two-thirds of final salary.
The manager has ultimate responsibility for all investment advisory services.
The corporate HQ in the UK has ultimate authority over all our overseas operations.
(Definition of ultimate from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of ultimate

ultimate
But each affects command decisions in unexpected ways, and when combined often undermine the ultimate strategic goals of the war.
From The Atlantic
That's acknowledgement of a political reality, but it doesn't address what his ultimate goals (or "wants") are.
From TIME
Many consider prisons to not be "punishing" enough, with "an eye for an eye" being the ultimate sanction.
From International Business Times
He's already taken the action, the ultimate action, his blood on the bridge.
From A.V. Club
Perhaps the ultimate freedom is the freedom to be one's self.
From Fast Company
Their love story progressed to its ultimate conclusion.
From ABC News
But the company's ultimate aim is to offer this technology as a way of driving the next generation of robots used in warehouses and factories.
From WIRED
We're hoping that each horse taking its course may win their way to an ultimate match.
From Los Angeles Times
But these charges can influence the ultimate cost for employers and consumers.
From Los Angeles Times
We did it because we shared a vision for our ultimate purpose.
From Business Insider
The power of systems of record is that they are the ultimate source and therefore "record" of critical business data.
From VentureBeat
You have to be willing the pay the ultimate price.
From Huffington Post
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of ultimate, Ultimate?
 
What is the pronunciation of ultimate Frisbee?
 

Translations of ultimate

in Chinese (Traditional)
極端的, 最重要的, 最初（或終）的…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
极端的, 最重要的, 最初（或终）的…
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in Spanish
mayor, último/ma [masculine-feminine, singular]…
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in Portuguese
final, máximo, melhor/pior possível…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Telugu
in Bengali
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in Indonesian
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in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
अंतिम, सर्वोत्तम…
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究極の, 最大の, 最終的（さいしゅうてき）な…
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en büyük/yüksek/önemli/güçlü, asıl, en son…
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ultime, final/-ale, le summum de…
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més gran, màxim…
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laatst, ultiem…
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மிகவும் தீவிரமான அல்லது முக்கியமானது, ஏனெனில் அசல் அல்லது இறுதி, அல்லது சிறந்த அல்லது மோசமானது…
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आखिरी, परम, चरम सीमा का…
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છેલ્લું, અંતિમ, આત્યંતિક…
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endelig…
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slutlig, slutgiltig…
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terakhir…
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letzt…
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endelig, ultimat, best tenkelig…
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قطعی, حتمی, آخری درجہ کا…
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останній, кінцевий…
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అంతిమ, అత్యంత తీవ్రమైన లేదా ముఖ్యమైనది ఎందుకంటే అసలైనది లేదా చివరిది లేదా ఉత్తమమైనది లేదా చెత్తగా ఉంటుంది…
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চূড়ান্ত…
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konečný…
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terakhir…
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สุดท้าย…
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cuối cùng, sau cùng…
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największy, ostateczny…
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궁극적인…
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definitivo, massimo, ultimo…
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