ultimately

adverb

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

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 Three years after the gifted artist’s global breakout, her music captures its own slice of the youthful zeitgeist — a post-pandemic sound that is wounded but ultimately hopeful, biting but rarely cynical. Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press, 24 Mar. 2024 Eric Oneal Smith was ultimately taken into custody. Daniel Hunt, Sacramento Bee, 23 Mar. 2024 An unresolved crisis in Gaza will ultimately harden Israel, shift it further to the right and put an eventual Palestinian state permanently out of reach. Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 23 Mar. 2024 The severe weather continued after the evacuation, and Ultra’s opening night was ultimately called off three hours early as the National Weather Service issued both a tornado and flash flooding warning. Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 23 Mar. 2024 The streak would have ended if the season started with replacement players and Ripken remained on strike, but the owners and players reached an agreement before opening day and Ripken ultimately ended up extending his record run to 2,632. CBS News, 23 Mar. 2024 The group ultimately left the room after nearly 10 minutes. Sasha Hupka, The Arizona Republic, 12 Mar. 2024 At San Marino High School, police officers planned to fire blanks to mimic the sound of gunfire, but the drill was ultimately canceled over concerns of traumatizing students. Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2024 Months later, border officials told Grant that the man had entered Australia, and he was ultimately charged with contempt of court. Matt Burgess, WIRED, 11 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ultimately.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1652, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of ultimately was in 1652

Dictionary Entries Near ultimately

Cite this Entry

“Ultimately.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ultimately. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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