adverb · academic
ultimately
UK/ˈʌltɪmətli/US/ˈʌltəmətli/UL·ti·ma·te·ly
in the end; used to state the most important fact or final outcome after consideration
Examples
“Ultimately, the success of the policy depends on public support.”
“The technology is promising but ultimately it must be affordable.”
“Many factors matter, but ultimately the decision rests with the board.”
Band 8 sentence
“Ultimately, policy-makers must balance short-term costs against long-term benefits.”
Collocations
- ultimately + clause (e.g. ultimately depends, ultimately decided)
- ultimately + be + adjective (e.g. ultimately successful)
Word family
Common mistakes
Ultimately, we maybe can do it.→Ultimately, we may be able to do it.
Ultimately is similar to finally so you can always swap them.→Ultimately and finally are close but cannot always be swapped; 'ultimately' often signals a considered conclusion.
Say it for a higher band
5in the end→6finally→7+ultimately
Synonyms
eventually
Easily confused
eventually
“Eventual delays aside, the experiment eventually produced clear results.”
Related words
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In Sequence
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