penultimate

adj

1. (UK, literary, not-comparable)Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.

   “[…] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]”

   “But it should frequently happen that offspring should resemble its penultimate rather than its latest phase, and should thus be more like a grand-parent than a parent.”

   ““Your clothes don't weigh more'n seven pounds. And seven from—hum—say one hundred an' twenty-three—one hundred an' sixteen is your stripped weight.” But at the penultimate word, Mary cried out with sharp reproof: “Why, Billy Roberts, people don't talk about such things.””

2. (not-comparable)Of or pertaining to a penult.
3. (not-comparable, rare)Relating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form.
4. (not-comparable, proscribed)pre-eminent, ultimate, best; par excellence, top-quality

   “This Book is the Proud Purple Penultimate!!”

   “This treatment, where two therapists massage the body using warm oils infused with plant extracts, is truly the penultimate experience.”

   “Ultimately, I reach the most penultimate existential questions: “What is the meaning of this? Is there any?””

noun

1. (uncommon)A penult, a next to last, particularly

   “Our Lutheran concern for the ultimates (the Gospel) has allowed us to neglect some of the penultimates (bodily healing), failing to stress the total implications of that ultimate Gospel.”

2. (obsolete, rare, uncommon)A penult, a next to last

   “At Woodstock, the penultimate of August.”

3. (uncommon)A penult, a next to last

   “Antepenultimate is that before the Penultimate, or the last but two.”

4. (obsolete, rare, uncommon)A penult, a next to last
5. (uncommon)A penult, a next to last

   “Penultimate, the. — Beginning with the lowest card but one of the suit you lead originally, if it contains more than four cards.”