Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ULTIMACY
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pronounce
ULTIMACY:
Say it "ULL tim uh see."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Back in 2005, Lemon Demon blessed the Internet with the animated song "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny." (Warning: tons of cartoonish violence!) The song narrates a battle among every hero and anti-hero ever, from Batman to Abraham Lincoln to every single Power Ranger.
I bring that up not just because it's hilarious but because the battle illustrates both meanings of ultimacy: superiority, because it's the best and most extreme battle ever; along with finality, because it's the last battle ever.
That is, sometimes an ultimate thing is the best or most extreme.
And other times, an ultimate thing is the last or the most final.
Still other times, both!
See if you can recall two terms closely related to ultimacy:
1. Something ___ultimate is next-to-last.
2. The n_ p___ ultra of something is a limit that you absolutely can't go beyond. As in, "Lemon Demon brought us the n_ p___ ultra of Flash-animated musical comedy."
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The Latin word ultimare, meaning "to come to an end," gives us our English word "ultimate," which we use to mean "final, farthest, absolute, best, most basic, or most important."
So, when we talk about the ultimacy of something, we usually mean that it's the best, the highest, or the most important--out of everything else.
In other words, ultimacy is the state of being the best, the highest, or the most important.
("Ultimacy" can also mean "the state of being the last," but we hardly ever use that meaning.)
grammatical bits:
Part of speech: noun, the uncountable kind: "the ultimacy of these laws."
Other forms:
The common ones are "ultimate" and "ultimately."
An alternate form of "ultimacy" is "ultimateness," but it's rare and sounds less graceful.
how to use it:
"Ultimacy" is an intense word, even more intense than synonyms like "supremacy" and "preeminence." It's the word you want when you kind of want to say "paramountness," but you're not sure that's a word, so you look it up and learn that the noun form of "paramount" is actually "paramountcy," which sounds awful. But, "ulltimacy"? That sounds awesome.
Because we hardly ever see the word "ultimacy," and because when we do it's often in some religious, metaphysical, or philosophical text, it sounds dramatic, powerful, and even mystical.
To use this word in general contexts, talk about the ultimacy of something: the ultimacy of good over evil, the ultimacy of the Olympic games, the ultimacy of publishing in the quest for academic tenure, the ultimacy of Amazon in the world of online retail.
examples:
"A genuine post-Holocaust philosophy ought to seek to repair, to the degree possible, the ultimacy of human worth, in a world where that ideal has been damaged and even destroyed."
— Michael L. Morgan, Fackenheim's Jewish Philosophy: An Introduction, 2013
"Nothing quite prepares you for your first glimpse inside the Maracana, Rio's landmark downtown bowl. It's just... so big. And so stark... The Maracana used to be someone. No, really, it did, its name redolent with a sense of footballing ultimacy."
— Barney Ronay, Daniel Taylor, Barry Glendenning, Amy Lawrence, Paul Doyle, and Sean Ingle, The Guardian, 9 November 2012
has this page helped you understand "ultimacy"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "ultimacy" without saying "primacy" or "extremity."
try it out:
If you've read the Harry Potter books, you probably noticed the narrator's constant language of ultimacy: "The biggest mystery." "The best birthday of his life." "The best morning he'd had in a long time." "The most miserable little shack you could imagine." "The greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had."
Talk about another narrator (or character, politician, commentator, sportscaster, advertiser, podcaster, or YouTuber) who constantly speaks or writes in terms of ultimacy. Do you find this person's language annoying? Imprecise? Exaggerated? Genuine? Exciting? Inspiring? And why?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Lightning Rhyming Recall!
In each issue this month, see how fast you can recall three words. They’re unrelated in meaning--probably--but they rhyme. To check your answers, scroll to the bottom of the issue. We’ll start out easy and ramp up the difficulty as the month goes on. Enjoy!
Each word below rhymes with MOOSE:
A. (2 syllables, adjective) Something too deep and complicated for regular people to understand is....
B. (2 syllables, adjective) Something very spread out, or something very wordy, is...
C. (2 syllables, adjective) Something stupid, clumsy, or insensitive is...
review this word:
1. A near opposite of ULTIMACY is
A. SENIORITY.
B. MEDIOCRITY.
C. INFERIORITY.
2. I acknowledge its _____ but deny its ultimacy; _____.
A. humor .. there is nothing original about the sitcom
B. beauty .. there are prettier cars than the Porsche Taycan
C. wisdom .. with this many authors, there is no consistency
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Back in 2005, Lemon Demon blessed the Internet with the animated song "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny." (Warning: tons of cartoonish violence!) The song narrates a battle among every hero and anti-hero ever, from Batman to Abraham Lincoln to every single Power Ranger.
The Latin word ultimare, meaning "to come to an end," gives us our English word "ultimate," which we use to mean "final, farthest, absolute, best, most basic, or most important."
Part of speech: noun, the uncountable kind: "the ultimacy of these laws."
"Ultimacy" is an intense word, even more intense than synonyms like "supremacy" and "preeminence." It's the word you want when you kind of want to say "paramountness," but you're not sure that's a word, so you look it up and learn that the noun form of "paramount" is actually "paramountcy," which sounds awful. But, "ulltimacy"? That sounds awesome.
"A genuine post-Holocaust philosophy ought to seek to repair, to the degree possible, the ultimacy of human worth, in a world where that ideal has been damaged and even destroyed."
Explain the meaning of "ultimacy" without saying "primacy" or "extremity."
If you've read the Harry Potter books, you probably noticed the narrator's constant language of ultimacy: "The biggest mystery." "The best birthday of his life." "The best morning he'd had in a long time." "The most miserable little shack you could imagine." "The greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
1. A near opposite of ULTIMACY is
|