pinnacle
/ˈpɪnəkəl/
pinnacle noun: the highest point.
Noun
pinnacle (plural pinnacles)
- The highest point.
- Antonyms:
- nadir
- A tall, sharp and craggy rock or mountain.
- Kings, who remain in many respects the representatives of a vanished world, solitary pinnacles that topple over the rising waste of waters under which the past lies buried.1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 55
- An all-time high; a point of greatest achievement or success.
- The pinnacle of the effort to fix restrictive meanings to a set of terminology can be found in two papers in American Speech by Feinsilver (1979, 1980).2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide, page 7
- Synonyms:
- acme, apex, zenith, apogee, apotheosis, ascendance, capstone, climax, coronation, crown
- An upright member, generally ending in a small spire, used to finish a buttress, to constitute a part in a proportion, as where pinnacles flank a gable or spire.
- Some renowned metropolis / With glistering spires and pinnacles around.1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- In the city’s midst the gleaming marble of a thousand steps climbed to the citadel where arose four pinnacles beckoning to heaven, and midmost between the pinnacles there stood the dome, vast, as the gods had dreamed it.1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 1
Verb
pinnacle (third-person singular simple present pinnacles, present participle pinnacling, simple past and past participle pinnacled)
- To place on a pinnacle.
- And down this vast gulf upon which we were pinnacled the great draught dashed and roared, driving clouds and misty wreaths of vapour before it, till we were nearly blinded, and utterly confused.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
- To build or furnish with a pinnacle or pinnacles.
- The pediment of the Southern Transept is pinnacled, not inelegantly, with a flourished cross1782, Thomas Warton, The History and Antiquities of Kiddington
Proper noun capitalized: Pinnacle
Pinnacle
- A locality in the Weddin council area, central New South Wales, Australia.
pinnacle meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
pinnacle in Hindi
- highest point
- शिखर śikhar
- figuratively: all-time high
- चरम caram
- architecture: an upright member
- शिखर śikhar
pinnacle in Tamil
- முடி
pinnacle in Marathi
- पिनाक्लिंग, पिन्नाक्लिंग, पिनॅक्लिंग
pinnacle in Urdu
- pinnacle, tip
- سر sar
More languagesFewer languages
- pinnacle in Bengali
- চূড়া, শিখর, একটি লম্বা, তীক্ষ্ণ এবং খড়্গযুক্ত পাথর
- pinnacle in Telugu
- పిన్నాక్లింగ్, పినాక్లింగ్
- pinnacle in Malayalam
- ഗോപുരാഗ്രം, ഹർമ്യം, ചെറുഗോപുരം, കൊടുമുടി
- pinnacle in Kannada
- ಕೋಡು, ತುತ್ತತುದಿ, ಕುಡಿಮೊನೆ
- pinnacle in Punjabi
- ਪਿਨਾਕਲਿੰਗ
- pinnacle in Gujarati
- પિનાક્લિંગ, પીનાક્લિંગ, પિન્નાક્લિંગ
- pinnacle in Odia
- ପିନାକ୍ଲିଙ୍ଗ, ପିନାକ୍ଲିଂ, ପିନାକ୍ଲିଙ୍ଗ୍
- pinnacle in Sanskrit
- शिरस् śíras
- pinnacle in Nepali
- पिन्नाक्लिङ, पिनाक्लिंङ
- pinnacle in Tagalog
- karurukan
- pinnacle in Arabic
- قِمَّة qimma, يضع شيء على قمة عالية
- pinnacle in Malay
- puncak
Examples of pinnacle in a sentence
- The traditional worldview elevates man as the pinnacle of creation.
- I thrutched up the final crack to a small pinnacle.
- A family friend says “Donutgate” won’t stop Grande’s rise to the pinnacle of music stardom.
Synonyms of pinnacle
15 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of pinnacle
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | pinnacles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | pinnacles |
| present participle | pinnacling |
| past participle | pinnacled |
| past | pinnacled |
Origin of pinnacle
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French pinacle, pinnacle, from Late Latin pinnāculum (“a peak, pinnacle”), from Latin pinna (“a pinnacle”); see pin. Doublet of panache.
Words formed from pinnacle
Phrases with pinnacle
Words that rhyme with pinnacle
Questions about pinnacle
- What does pinnacle mean?
- Pinnacle means the highest point.
- What is pinnacle in Hindi?
- Pinnacle in Hindi is शिखर (śikhar), चरम (caram). See Pinnacle meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is pinnacle?
- Pinnacle can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce pinnacle?
- Pinnacle is pronounced /ˈpɪnəkəl/.
- What is the plural of pinnacle?
- The plural of pinnacle is pinnacles.
Words near pinnacle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pinnacle (page history and authors); Pinnacle (page history and authors); pinnacle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pinnacle (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); سر (Urdu) (page history and authors); pinnacle (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pinnacle (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pinnacle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pinnacle (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pinnacle (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pinnacle (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pinnacle (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pinnacle (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pinnacle.wav.
Cite this entry: “pinnacle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pinnacle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.