umpteenth
adjective
Bonnie SchiedelRedmond O'HanlonJane Fritsch
Did you know?
"I'll go to bed and I'll not get up for umpty-eleven months." You know the feeling. The speaker here is war-weary Bill, a character in Patrick MacGill's early 20th-century novel The Great Push. His "umpty" originated as military slang around 1905 and stood for an indefinite number, generally largish. (It was probably created by analogy to actual numbers such as "twenty.") Soon, there followed "umpteen," blending "umpty" and "-teen." "Umpteen" usually describes an indefinite and large number or amount, while the related "umpteenth" is used for the latest or last in an indefinitely numerous series. We only occasionally use "umpty" these days (and even more rarely "umptieth"), but you're bound to hear or read "umpteen" and "umpteenth" any number of times.
Examples of umpteenth in a Sentence
Vahe Gregorian
july 16, Kansas City Star, 16 July 2025
With his umpteenth chance at life, Dexter is trailing his son Harrison (Jack Alcott) to New York City, while his former coworker Captain Angel Batista (David Zayas) closes in on them.
—EW.com, 11 July 2025
The Pacers, on the other hand, couldn’t mount their umpteenth comeback of the postseason.
—Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 9 June 2025
Ortega delivers a pitch-perfect take on the sardonic teen, who's shipped off to Nevermore Academy after her umpteenth expulsion.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for umpteenth
Cite this Entry
“Umpteenth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/umpteenth. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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