umpteenth — used to emphasize that something has happened many times before
Part of speech: ADJECTIVE
Definition: used to emphasize that something has happened many times before
Pronunciation (IPA): /ˈʌmpˌtinθ/
Example Sentences
- This is my umpteenth cup of coffee today - I really need to cut back!
- He's calling his ex-girlfriend for the umpteenth time this week.
- For the umpteenth time, the password is NOT 'password123'!
umpteenth
ADJECTIVE[/ˈʌmpˌtinθ/]
used to emphasize that something has happened many times before
The same mess, yet again
For the umpteenth time, from thirteenth to fourteenth try!
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🎤Pronunciation
🌳Etymology
Origin
Umpteenth emerged in the late 19th century as a humorous coinage combining 'umpty', informal slang denoting an indefinite large number (popularized in telegraph and telephone operators' jargon), with the ordinal suffix '-teenth' (as in thirteenth, fourteenth). The word playfully expresses the concept of an indeterminate ordinal position, roughly equivalent to 'the so-and-so-th time'.
Breakdown
umpty (from ump, representing an unspecified quantity in telecommunications slang) + -teenth (ordinal suffix forming numbers like thirteen, fourteen, indicating sequence or order).
🎵Rhyme
🔗Collocations
📝Examples
“This is my umpteenth cup of coffee today - I really need to cut back!”
“He's calling his ex-girlfriend for the umpteenth time this week.”
“For the umpteenth time, the password is NOT 'password123'!”
“She rewrote the email for the umpteenth time before sending it.”
📚Related Words
Synonyms
Antonyms
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