ultimate destination

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   the final place someone or something is traveling to or aims to reach

   Grammar: Countable but usually used with a possessive or 'the': their ultimate destination, the ultimate destination of the flight.

   Patterns

   • someone's ultimate destination
   • the ultimate destination of something
   • reach your ultimate destination

   After three flights and a long bus ride, we finally reached our ultimate destination: a tiny village in the mountains.

   The ship's ultimate destination was Singapore, though it stopped at six ports along the way.

   For many immigrants, the ultimate destination is a city where they already have family.

2. 2nouncountablefigurative

   the final result or goal that a process or plan is moving toward

   Grammar: Often used figuratively with abstract nouns like career, project, or plan.

   Patterns

   • the ultimate destination of something
   • someone's ultimate destination

   The ultimate destination of all this research is a vaccine that works for everyone.

   She sees a professorship as the ultimate destination of her academic career.

Word forms

Common combinations

reach your ultimate destination

It took us two days to reach our ultimate destination.

final destination

Please check that your bags are labeled with your final destination.

the ultimate destination of the journey

The ultimate destination of the journey was a small island off the coast.

ultimate goal

Winning the championship is the team's ultimate goal.

Synonyms and how they differ

final destination

Nearly the same, but 'final destination' is more common in travel and transport contexts, while 'ultimate destination' often suggests a long or important journey.

end point

Use 'end point' for the last point of a process or line, not usually for a physical place you travel to.

goal

Use 'goal' for an aim you work toward; it does not usually mean a physical place.

Opposites

Word family

ultimately adverb

means 'in the end' or 'finally'

destination noun

the place someone or something is going to

destine verb

to intend or set apart for a particular purpose or end

Commonly confused: ultimate destination or final destination?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “ultimate destination”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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