Ulterior
Alternative forms
- ulteriour obsolete
Origin
From Latin ulterior, comparative of ulter ("that is beyond").
Full definition of ulterior
Adjective
ulterior
- Situated beyond, or on the farther side.
- Beyond what is obvious or evident.
- Being intentionally concealed so as to deceive.
- 1956–1960, Richard Stanley Peters, The Concept of Motivation, (second edition, 1960), chapter ii: “Motives and Motivationâ€, 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.
- 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 ...
Derived terms
Antonyms
- (intentionally concealed, to deceive) ostensible