August 1999
Beginner
276 pages
8h 26m
English
Ultimate means last and it often connotes superiority, especially when it appears in advertising copy, as in "The ultimate [the last word] in men's clothing." Penultimate means next-to-last, nothing more. It carries no connotation of superiority. So the actress who won an Oscar and gushed, "This is the penultimate experience of my life," surely was not to be taken literally.
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