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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

last word en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic, qualifier:often preceded by the and followed by in) The finest, highest, or ultimate representative of some class of objects.
    • Michaelis was the last word in what was caddish and bounderish. 1928, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter III, in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, [Germany?]: Privately printed, →OCLC:
    • Little Joe's mother's cake was the last word in cakes; [...] 1917, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “Captain Jim Crosses the Bar”, in Anne’s House of Dreams, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, published 1920, →OCLC, page 332:
  2. (idiomatic) A concluding remark; final advice, instructions, or observation.
    • ["]I have got my leave, and that is all I want." / "You had better receive the last word from my mother," said the marquis. / "Very good; I will go and get it," said Newman; and he prepared to return to the drawing-room. 1876 October, Henry James, Jr., chapter XII, in The American, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, […], published 5 May 1877, →OCLC, page 205:
    • [W]hen we had grasped hands for the last time and had said our last good-bye, he added this one more last word: "Of all the people I have ever known you are the only one I don't know." 1918, W. H. Hudson, chapter 24, in Far Away and Long Ago:
  3. (in-plural, often, sarcastic) The final statement uttered by a person before death.
    • This account I am transmitting down the river by canoe, and it may be our last word to those who are interested in our fate. 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘To-morrow We Disappear into the Unknown’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 109:
    • Benjamin Franklin [...] pondered over his last words for as much as two weeks, and then when the time came, he said, "None but the brave deserve the fair," and died happy. 1889 September 11, Mark Twain, “Last words of great men”, in Buffalo Express, Buffalo, N.Y.:
  4. (idiomatic) A final decision or remark, or the right to make one.
    • get the last word
    • have the last word
    • An Afghan Olympic official said the team holds the right to substitute Andyar with another female athlete, though the IOC would have the last word. 2008 July 9, Jeff Israely, “Where Is the Afghan Female Runner?”, in Time, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2008:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
last words Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

seven last words · last-wordism

Relateds

final say · last laugh

Synonyms

paragon · ne plus ultra · exemplar

Translations (40)

cmn 總結發言 /总结发言 (concluding remarks) · is hinstu orð ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · fi viimeinen sana (final decision or the right to make such a decision) · hu csimborasszó (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · ka ბოლო სიტყვა (concluding remarks) · de letztes Wort (concluding remarks) · hu csúcs (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · it l'ultima parola (concluding remarks) · is eiga síðasta orðið (concluding remarks) · ru после́днее сло́во ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · fr dernière paroles ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · fi viimeinen huuto (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · ja 決定版 (final decision or the right to make such a decision) · tl huling kataga ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · ru после́днее сло́во (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · hu utolsó szó ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · de Krone (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · vi trăng trối ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · ru после́днее сло́во (final decision or the right to make such a decision) · is síðasta orðið (concluding remarks) · de letztes Wort ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · hu végső/döntő szó (final decision or the right to make such a decision) · fi viimeinen sana (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · tl huling kataga (concluding remarks) · fi viimeiset sanat ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · it non plus ultra (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · is síðustu orð ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · fi viimeinen sana (concluding remarks) · hu non plus ultra (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · de letztes Wort (final decision or the right to make such a decision) · hu zárszó (concluding remarks) · de Nonplusultra (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · cmn 遗言 ((often pluralized) final statement uttered before death) · hu netovább (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · cmn 極品 /极品 (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · hu végszó (concluding remarks) · ka ბოლო სიტყვა (final decision or the right to make such a decision) · cmn 終極代表 /终极代表 (finest, highest or ultimate representation of some class of object) · pl ostatnie słowo (final decision or the right to make such a decision) · cmn 最後發言權 /最后发言权 (final decision or the right to make such a decision)