acme

/ˈækmi/

Other forms: acmes

When something is at the very peak of perfection, reach for this noun from Greek: acme. A brilliant violinist might reach the acme of her career, but eventually she might become unstrung.

This noun referring to the highest point of something might sound comical because it has shown up so often in cartoons as the name of a company, such as the one that makes Wile E. Coyote's contraptions in the old Warner Brothers cartoons. But the word is actually a serious-minded import from Greek. Near synonyms for high points include zenith, summit, pinnacle, apex, and peak, but acme has a special nuance for an ultimate point of perfection.

Definitions of acme

1. noun

   the highest point (of something)
   synonyms: apex, peak, vertex, zenith

   types:

   crown

   the part of a hat (the vertex) that covers the crown of the head

   roof peak

   the highest point of a roof

   type of:

   extreme, extreme point, extremum

   the point located farthest from the middle of something
2. noun

   the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development
   “his landscapes were deemed the acme of beauty”

   “the artist's gifts are at their acme”

   synonyms: elevation, height, meridian, peak, pinnacle, summit, superlative, tiptop, top, zenith

   type of:

   degree, level, point, stage

   a specific identifiable position in a continuum or series or especially in a process