last word
13
4.6
- noun
:
última palabra
- What is clear is that in the struggle between religious accommodation and decision, the last word has yet to be said.
- get the last word
- give the last word
So unfortunately, my last word on this book is that I don't recommend it for readers.
- So unfortunately, my last word on this book is that I don't recommend it for readers.
- Because maybe Einstein was right after all, and quantum mechanics isn't the last word.
- But I don't know if that issue is going to be as present if this indictment is the the last word on it, if there is an additional charges.
- Science can't give us the last word on that, he says.
- By law, Petrobras is and has the last word.
- They have the last word on anything concerning race, gender.
- Initially, Congress sort of appeased itself by saying we're going to have the last word.
- We we don't have the last word on our own economic and security policies.
- Interestingly, the person who has, you might say, the last word on this is the doorkeeper, right?
Examples
-
Although economic theory is very useful, it does not provide the last word.
Academic text (1991) -
The judge's ruling was the last word in the controversial case.
-
And that is my last word on the subject.
Fiction book (1997) -
Many modern states have a constitution that has the last word, without religious law.
Blog text (1) -
President Bush's strategy cannot be the last word on the topic, but it is a good place to start.
Academic text (2003) -
Liberals get the last word at least 75 percent of the time on almost half the issues.
Academic text (1990) -
So unfortunately, my last word on this book is that I don't recommend it for readers.
-
Others imitated him and followed him, but Spock's was the last word.
Academic text (1996) -
Thus, the biography was almost universally accepted as the last word on the subject and even persuaded most of Burt's supporters.
Academic text (1991) -
At Moussaoui's sentencing hearing, the last word belonged to Brinkema.
Academic text (2007)
Synonyms
721
3.7
A formal decision agreed on by a group after a vote
632
1.6
A decision made after thinking about the facts
81
4.4
A final decision by someone with the power to decide
55
3.3
A court judgment that ends a case and must be followed
34
7.2
A statement that a person in power announces to the public
14
4.0
The power to make the last decision in a matter
7
5.6
A court decision that ends a case and only needs to be carried out
How Authoritative
13
4.6
- Specialized
545
4.5
∞
1.0
- Formal
34
7.2
- Formal
∞
1.3
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'an authoritative or final statement' is directly compositional from 'last' (coming at the end) + 'word' (a statement), so the overall meaning of a final or concluding remark is predictable. This construction is common cross-linguistically (e.g. Spanish 'la última palabra') and would be accessible to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
The phrase last word may come from the idea of a final decision by a judge or leader, whose last word ends the discussion. That's why it means 'an authoritative or final decision'.