• Ulterior

    Alternative forms

    Origin

    From Latin ulterior, comparative of ulter ("that is beyond").

    Full definition of ulterior

    Adjective

    ulterior

    1. Situated beyond, or on the farther side.
    2. Beyond what is obvious or evident.
    3. Being intentionally concealed so as to deceive.
      • 1956–1960, Richard Stanley Peters, The Concept of Motivation, (second edition, 1960), chapter ii: “Motives and Motivation”, page 32:Motives, of course, may be mixed; but this only means that a man aims at a variety of goals by means of the same course of action. Similarly a man may have a strong motive or a weak one, an ulterior motive or an ostensible one.
    4. Happening later; subsequent.an ulterior action
      • 1840, in The Chemist, volume 1, page 141:A rather deep red coloration, which appears by the action of the first bubbles of chlorine, but which soon disappears by the ulterior action of this gas ...

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