“This is the penultimate game of the series — the final.”
Confusables Entry 1422 / 1605 60-second read
Penultimate vs. Ultimate
Second-to-last versus last.
The comparisoni
“This is the ultimate game of the series — the final. PENULTIMATE = second-to-last. ULTIMATE = last.”
The ruleii
¶
PENULTIMATE = N-1. ULTIMATE = N.
PENULTIMATE (Latin PAENE = almost) means almost-last — second-to-last. ULTIMATE = last. Casual misuse pushes "penultimate" to mean "the very best" by analogy with "ultimate"; the strict meaning is purely positional.
Memory aidiii
Remember it like this
Pen = almost. Ultimate = last.