penultimate. adjective. The next to the last.

This Wednesday Word is a suggestion by Adam, no less...

Penultimate is such a great classic vocabulary word that actually means something very simple with very little in the way of "creative extra uses". It means "2nd-last" or "next to the last", and it will pretty much always mean that. Still, it's a damn classy way to say it!

I find the penultimate boss in a video game is always harder than the final one.

I was the penultimate choice when they were picking teams; what a relief!

The penultimate entry to the Harry Potter series was the best one, damnit!

So remember: second-last. Not last.

(Adverb form: penultimately; word root: penult/penultima (the next-to-last syllable of a word)