But penultimate means “next to last” or “second to last.” It's probably because it adds an emphatic extra syllable to the word ultimate that people think it somehow means “more” than ultimate—but it really means less.

What is a penultimate item?

The definition of penultimate is something that is second to last or right before the last item in a series. An example of penultimate is the letter "Y" which is the second to last letter in the alphabet.

Is there a word for third last?

Something that's antepenultimate is the third from the last. ... Ultimate is the last or best, penultimate is the second to last, and finally antepenultimate is the third from last.