penultimate

IPA: pɛnˈʌɫtʌmʌt

(uncommon) A penult, a next to last
(obsolete, rare) The penultimate day of a month.
(linguistics, literature, uncommon) The penultimate syllable of a word or metrical line.
(mathematics, obsolete, rare) The penultimate element of a collection of curves.
(card games, uncommon) The penultimate (next to lowest) card in a suit.

(UK, in US usually formal, literary or scholarly) Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.
(linguistics) Of or pertaining to a penult.
(mathematics, rare) Relating to or denoting an element of a related collection of curves that is arbitrarily close to a degenerate form.
(proscribed) pre-eminent, ultimate, best; par excellence, top-quality

Examples of "penultimate" in Sentences

The penultimate episode of the TV series left viewers on the edge of their seats, eagerly awaiting the finale
As she reached the penultimate chapter of the book, she couldn't help but wonder how it would all end
The penultimate stage of the marathon was the most challenging, with runners pushing themselves to the limit
The penultimate piece of the puzzle finally fell into place, revealing the solution to the mystery
We're down to the penultimate choice for the new logo design – which one will we ultimately choose