ultimately

adverb

ul·​ti·​mate·​ly ˈəl-tə-mət-lē How to pronounce ultimately (audio)
Synonyms of ultimately
1
: in the end : fundamentally
the word comes ultimately from Latin
2
: eventually
ultimately, they agreed

Synonyms of ultimately

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of ultimately in a Sentence

The changes ultimately proved to be unnecessary. Ultimately, it's a question of who is more popular.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Therefore, how much of the impact caused by El Niño will ultimately translate into the bills handed to consumers remains to be seen. — CNBC, 3 Sep. 2026 Chelsea then imposed what turned out to be a false and ultimately quite pompous deadline. — Nick Miller, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026 Cloud computing shifted infrastructure from capital investment to consumption, ultimately giving rise to FinOps, a discipline focused on governing cloud economics rather than simply reducing cloud costs. — Prajkta Waditwar, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2026 The unusual encounter unfolded last week in Kirkland's Moss Bay neighborhood, where police were ultimately able to corral the wild animal before wildlife officials later returned it to its natural habitat. — Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 2 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for ultimately

Word History

First Known Use

1652, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of ultimately was in 1652

Browse Nearby Words

ultimate line
ultimately
ultimate mortality table
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Ultimately.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ultimately. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of apiary

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
anagrams on a chalk board
Word Builder Quiz Vol. 2 Pick the letter that when added to a word will ma...
See All