Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Next to last.
- adjective Linguistics Of or relating to the penult of a word.
- noun The next to the last.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In whist and bridge, the lowest but one of a suit.
- 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 . - noun That member of a series which is the last but one; specifically, the last syllable but one of a word.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Last but one.
- noun The penult.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective formal Coming next-to-last in a
sequence . - adjective linguistics Of or pertaining to a
penult . - noun this sense?) A next-to-last thing.
- noun linguistics A next-to-last syllable in a linguistic unit.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the next to last syllable in a word
- adjective next to the last
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The former Republican New York gubernatorial candidate pens a letter insulting a journalist "Maybe it's your youth, immaturity, inexperience, or what appears to be an endless desire to ingratiate yourself with people in power...", then misuses the word "penultimate."
The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post Dana Milbank 2010
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No words but monosyllables or contracted forms have the accent on the last; dissyllables are therefore always accented on the first, and polysyllables on the first or second, according as the penultimate is short or long, _Lúcius, cecídi_.
The History of Roman Literature From the earliest period to the death of Marcus Aurelius Charles Thomas Cruttwell 1879
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graeme on 8-19-2008 at 1:14 pm yay for the proper usage of the word penultimate!
Nunc Scio » Blog Archive » My road to 100 push ups: week the third 2008
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I started reading and was immediately sideswiped and distracted by the lead-in writer’s use of the word penultimate - Gilder’s penultimate point?
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These philosophies are what might be called the penultimate forms of irrationalism.
Dictionary of the History of Ideas JEAN WAHL 1968
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Southwards down the African coast it is doubtful whether in face of the interference of England, Russia, France, Denmark and Spain, he could have made piracy pay; but in turning for the Mediterranean he took what we may call the penultimate step of his life which meant for him settling down.
Tales of Wonder Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett Dunsany 1917
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In the last section of this MS. _but one_ (that is, the penultimate), I think that I have omitted a line in the copy sent to you from Florence, viz. after the line --
Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 4 (of 6) With His Letters and Journals Thomas Moore 1815
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The eighth wicket was taken by Malinga and the penultimate was a run-out!
The Times of India 2010
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Here we are at the second to last A Movie A Day, what Herc would call penultimate, and the final film in nearly a work-week worth of Neil Simon movies: CALIFORNIA SUITE.
Ain't It Cool News - The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news. 2009
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Of course, this pope is described as the penultimate pope, to be followed by "Peter of Rome" who will destroy the city.
this is the samaBlog 2008
rawles commented on the word penultimate
Meaning "next to last" not "super ultimate" as people often seem to assume.
May 20, 2007
uselessness commented on the word penultimate
That's got to be the second-worst language mistake I hear people make all the time.
May 21, 2007
reesetee commented on the word penultimate
And the first (just out of curiosity)?
May 21, 2007
uselessness commented on the word penultimate
Literally, when whatever's being described is the exact opposite of literal.
May 21, 2007
reesetee commented on the word penultimate
Yes! AAAAAARGH! I literally cringe when I hear that. ;-)
May 21, 2007
trivet commented on the word penultimate
Likewise on both accounts, with extra cringes for the recent fad of belligerent used as a synonym for drunk/intoxicated. *huuuhg*
May 21, 2007
rawles commented on the word penultimate
The use of literally to mean figuratively makes me lose a little more faith in humanity every time I hear it.
May 23, 2007
dubek commented on the word penultimate
One of wife's favourties.
January 19, 2008
wackyvorlon commented on the word penultimate
People who use the word penultimate properly hold a special place in my heart.
September 23, 2008
mollusque commented on the word penultimate
In the left atrium?
September 23, 2008
smrtrthnu commented on the word penultimate
the word is so misunderstood...
October 17, 2008
jeffrey.t.whitney commented on the word penultimate
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).
June 11, 2009
quotato commented on the word penultimate
He who laughs last does not laugh penultimately.
June 24, 2009
eggoabbas commented on the word penultimate
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.
June 28, 2009
walkerslaw commented on the word penultimate
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."
October 29, 2009
Telofy commented on the word penultimate
/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).
November 6, 2009
Telofy commented on the word penultimate
What happened to my dear Unicode? :-o
November 6, 2009
Louises commented on the word penultimate
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.
March 28, 2012