: the highest point or stage
the acme of his fame
also : something or someone that represents perfection of the thing expressed
a system that is the acme of efficiency

Did you know?

In Greek, acme meant a mountain peak, but in English we hardly ever use it in the physical sense. Instead we speak of someone's new job as the acme of her career, or of a certain leap as the acme of classical dance technique. In old Road Runner cartoons, the Acme Company is the provider of every ingenious device imaginable. But the word can't always be taken quite literally as a brand or company name; it's possible, for instance, that something called the Acme Bar & Grill may not be the absolutely highest and best example of a bar and grill. And don't confuse acme with acne, the skin disorder—even though both actually come from the same word.

Choose the Right Synonym for acme

summit, peak, pinnacle, climax, apex, acme, culmination mean the highest point attained or attainable.

summit implies the topmost level attainable.

at the summit of the Victorian social scene

peak suggests the highest among other high points.

an artist working at the peak of her powers

pinnacle suggests a dizzying and often insecure height.

the pinnacle of worldly success

climax implies the highest point in an ascending series.

the war was the climax to a series of hostile actions

apex implies the point where all ascending lines converge.

the apex of Dutch culture

acme implies a level of quality representing the perfection of a thing.

a statue that was once deemed the acme of beauty

culmination suggests the outcome of a growth or development representing an attained objective.

the culmination of years of effort

Examples of acme in a Sentence

His fame was at its acme. the acme of their basketball season was their hard-won victory over last year's state champs
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
By 1998, when Lewis H. Lapham filed two reports on the WEF for this magazine, globalization and its political sister, Third Way politics, were at their acme. Caitlín Doherty, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025 The sentence on Cafe Kestrel’s menu is the battle cry of the heroic rabbit Bigwig, shouted in righteous rage at the leader of the enemy tribe of rabbits, at the acme of the story’s great climactic battle. Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek akmḗ "point, highest point, culmination," from ak- (going back to Indo-European *h2eḱ- "pointed") + -mē, noun suffix — more at edge entry 1

First Known Use

1560, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of acme was in 1560

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Acme.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acme. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

: the highest point : peak
the acme of perfection

Medical Definition

: the highest or most critical point or stage (as of growth or development)

More from Merriam-Webster on acme

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