For writers and speakers

Jesus Christ was Not the Penultimate Leader

If you don’t know what a word means, don’t use it.

The sermon included some comments on leadership. The preacher said:

“Jesus, of course, one might consider the penultimate leader …”

Really? Jesus was the next to last leader?

Of course not. Jesus was the ultimate leader.

Why is this a common word usage mistake?

Because some people think pen is a prefix that intensifies the word ultimate. It’s not.

Penultimate means the next to last item in a series.

Ultimate means the last or final or the best possible.

Consider this sentence:

Our itinerary begins in Miami, with stops in Atlanta, New York, and Chicago, then we complete the trip in Los Angeles.

Chicago is the penultimate [next to last] stop with Los Angeles being the ultimate [final] destination.

Another sentence:

The dinner was delicious — it was the penultimate gourmet meal.

No. Just no.

The food might have been the best achievable, in which case, it would have been appropriate to call it the ultimate gourmet meal.

Of course, maybe it was the next to last gourmet meal — who knows?

To use penultimate to mean the absolute best is a malapropism, which is [according to Wikipedia] the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance.

Unless you’re trying to be funny, don’t use penultimate when ultimate is correct.

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