penultimate vs next to last :

penultimate or next to last

To confuse your readers, use the term “penultimate,” which means “next to last,” but which most people assume means “the very last.” And if you really want to baffle them, use “antepenultimate” to mean “third from the end.”Many people also mistakenly use “penultimate” when they mean “quintessential” or “archetypical.”

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  Do you make these 10 mistakes?
Definitions
  penultimate
  • n  the next to last syllable in a word
  • s  next to the last
    the author inadvertently reveals the murderer in the penultimate chapter
News & Articles
  penultimate
  • Book Reviews
    Minneapolis: Zenith Press, 2011. Pp. vi, 328. Illus., maps, appends., notes, biblio, index. $28.00. ISBN: 0760338981. Aviation historian Dorr uses the penultimate Eight Air Force raid on Berlin, on February 3, 1945, as a means of examining the American air campaign against the German capital.
    June 13, 2013 - Strategy Page
  • Book Reviews
    Minneapolis: Zenith Press, 2011. Pp. vi, 328. Illus., maps, appends., notes, biblio, index. $28.00. ISBN: 0760338981. Aviation historian Dorr uses the penultimate Eight Air Force raid on Berlin, on February 3, 1945, as a means of examining the American air campaign against the German capital.
    June 13, 2013 - Strategy Page
  • Stats: Here's How We Deal With TV Deaths and Shockers Like the 'Red Wedding'
    Following Game of Thrones’ now-infamous Red Wedding episode, people were–what’s the phrase?–crazy pissed. Upset at the shocking end to the season’s penultimate episode, and the deaths of several favorite characters, fans of the show railed on social media with an endless stream of “ Thanks for nothing , Game of Thrones ” and “ I may be completely done with Game of Thrones ” tweets.
    June 12, 2013 - Wired News
  next to last