How to Use ultimatum in a Sentence

ultimatum

noun
  • She was given an ultimatum—work harder or lose her job.
  • Rae gave Zae the ultimatum after two and a half years of dating.
    Glamour, 9 Apr. 2022
  • For freed Black people, the ultimatum was stark: leave or die.
    Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2023
  • While one partner is ready to take the next step, the other isn’t quite sure, and an ultimatum is issued.
    Emily Longeretta, Variety, 24 Mar. 2022
  • While one partner is ready to take the leap and gave their partner an ultimatum as a result, the other is on the fence.
    Dory Jackson, PEOPLE.com, 13 Apr. 2022
  • When Pearson was 15, his dad gave him a my-way-or-the-highway ultimatum: give up this punk rock stuff or get out of my house.
    Hali Tauxe, The Indianapolis Star, 11 Jan. 2024
  • That, and the fact that Eggleston and the other woman had presented him with an ultimatum: to pick one of them.
    Alex Mann, Baltimore Sun, 26 July 2023
  • Fed up with the ultimatums around child-rearing, Nya stars de-Andreing her house in a rampage.
    Aimée Lutkin, ELLE, 23 June 2023
  • Johnson issued the ultimatum in a Tuesday letter to the White House.
    Anders Hagstrom, Fox News, 5 Dec. 2023
  • Legally, the board could have stood firm and refused the mayor’s ultimatum to dismiss Sawyer.
    Mary Carole McCauley, Baltimore Sun, 10 Jan. 2023
  • The United States and a dozen allies issued an ultimatum to the Houthis last week to cease their near-daily attacks.
    Edward Wong, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2024
  • When the partner who wants to get married issues an ultimatum, the fun begins.
    Kelly Allen, House Beautiful, 24 Aug. 2023
  • Travis faces an ultimatum from Gurley that will transform Uber and give one of them control of the company.
    Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2022
  • There is an ultimatum issued, and over eight weeks a decision must be made.
    Lisa Respers France, CNN, 9 Apr. 2022
  • That is because in the ultimatum email, Mr. Musk said those who opt to leave the company would receive three months of severance.
    Sarah E. Needleman, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2022
  • And that was before last week’s ultimatum, when more workers quit.
    Laurent Belsie, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Nov. 2022
  • In 1985, Aebi's father gave her an ultimatum: Go to college or sail solo around the world.
    The Week Staff, The Week, 4 Apr. 2022
  • Apple has issued an ultimatum of sorts to part of its San Diego workforce.
    Natallie Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Jan. 2024
  • Xander was the one who gave an ultimatum to her partner, Vanessa.
    Olivia Evans, Women's Health, 25 May 2023
  • Hagan gave Adams an ultimatum, her or Haskell, and Adams, fearing that a split would harm his future career prospects, chose Haskell.
    Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 10 July 2023
  • The behind-the-scenes story of Jackie’s ultimatum to Onassis.
    Pat Myers, Washington Post, 19 May 2022
  • Meanwhile, Lindy relays the ultimatum that Miguel gave her while chatting with Justin and Alexis.
    Alexis Jones, Peoplemag, 3 Aug. 2022
  • First to choose is Shanique, who gave the ultimatum to her original partner, Randall.
    Alamin Yohannes, EW.com, 6 Apr. 2022
  • After all, the show is premised on the idea that one person in a couple issues an ultimatum to their partner, telling them to either propose or take a hike.
    Korin Miller, Women's Health, 24 Aug. 2023
  • At one point, Chen seemingly issued an ultimatum for De Niro to get rid of Robinson.
    Lauryn Overhultz, Fox News, 12 Nov. 2023
  • Mia gives him an ultimatum, asking him to choose her over his loyalty to Dutton.
    Matt Cabral, EW.com, 11 Nov. 2022
  • When his father confronts him with an ultimatum to either find a job by the end of the week or start working at his auto repair shop, Luigi must act.
    Leo Barraclough, Variety, 25 June 2022
  • Just a few weeks before Otis Taylor was scheduled to graduate from high school, he was given an ultimatum: Cut your hair, or you’ll be kicked out of school.
    Sydney Page, Washington Post, 26 May 2023
  • After some more arguments and an ultimatum from Harding, the couple came back together for a less rocky journey—and snagged the crown.
    Time, 1 Aug. 2023
  • Yarullina hoped the ultimatum might push Gordon Casey, 19, toward rehab and break the cycle of mental health and drug issues that kept pulling him down.
    Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 6 June 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ultimatum.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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