How to Use ultimatum in a Sentence

ultimatum

noun
  • She was given an ultimatum—work harder or lose her job.
  • Basie followed through on the ultimatum and turned down the gig.
    Larry Tye, TIME, 9 May 2024
  • Which seems to bring us to an impasse—and back to Marko's ultimatum.
    Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 16 Oct. 2020
  • Rae gave Zae the ultimatum after two and a half years of dating.
    Glamour, 9 Apr. 2022
  • The headache for Ek set in last week when rock star Neil Young issued an ultimatum.
    Abram Brown, Forbes, 31 Jan. 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
  • That ultimatum came as a shock: Elettra had viewed this home in which she was raised by Joanie as her true bedrock.
    Kenneth R. Rosen, Wired, 17 Nov. 2020
  • The gate agent boarded the aircraft and issued the ultimatum.
    Elliott Hester, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2021
  • Then came the divorce ultimatum: Leave her husband, or lose the kids.
    Mary Jo Pitzl, Arizona Republic, 20 Nov. 2019
  • 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
  • And his wife had given him an ultimatum: no more boats.
    Carl Nolte, SFChronicle.com, 29 Aug. 2020
  • Her sergeant, a woman, gave the class a life-changing ultimatum.
    Emmett Jones, Fox News, 23 Oct. 2021
  • When they're made co-captains, Coach gives them an ultimatum: Bury the hatchet or lose their posts.
    Lizz Schumer, Peoplemag, 3 May 2024
  • Fed up with the ultimatums around child-rearing, Nya stars de-Andreing her house in a rampage.
    Aimée Lutkin, ELLE, 23 June 2023
  • Chuck issued an ultimatum to Blair, asking her to meet him atop the building.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 25 June 2024
  • 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
  • Nicky takes matters into her own hands after the retrieval of a weapon doesn’t go as planned, and Althea is faced with an ultimatum.
    Washington Post, 12 May 2021
  • When the partner who wants to get married issues an ultimatum, the fun begins.
    Kelly Allen, House Beautiful, 24 Aug. 2023
  • Maybe your boyfriend needs an ultimatum to take action.
    Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 5 June 2024
  • The episode began with Clayton telling host Jesse Palmer that he was lost and didn’t know what to do after Susie had surprised him with her ultimatum.
    Elizabeth Wagmeister, Variety, 14 Mar. 2022
  • And sure enough, the city gave him an ultimatum — leave the state’s medical cannabis program or don’t bother coming to work.
    The Salt Lake Tribune, 8 Feb. 2022
  • The series offers them an ultimatum: Tie the knot or trade your person for someone else's.
    Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 4 Mar. 2022
  • Travis faces an ultimatum from Gurley that will transform Uber and give one of them control of the company.
    Washington Post, 9 Apr. 2022
  • Fox told the Times that West issued her an ultimatum toward the end of their relationship.
    Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 14 Oct. 2024
  • This groundbreaking series premiered in 2023 and showcases a diverse cast of couples, made up of women and non-binary people, facing the same ultimatum: marry or break up.
    Jane Lacroix, Peoplemag, 21 Sep. 2024

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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