Ultimately

Ultimately is an adverb. We use it to mean ‘finally, after a series of things have happened’:

• Ultimately*, I’d like to go to university, but before that I want to get some work experience and travel a bit.*
• We came to the conclusion ultimately that political demonstrations were a waste of time.

warning

Ultimately does not mean ‘recently’:

• Recently*, the price of shares in the company has dropped.*
• Not: Ultimately, the price of shares in the company has dropped.