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Glite Dictionary
nice guys finish last

nice guys finish last

8.3
Kind people are less likely to do well than selfish people
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : los buenos terminan últimos
  • Despite his kindness, he often felt that nice guys finish last when promotions were awarded solely to those who were more aggressive.

This is why nice guys finish last and I'm going to give you exactly why and hope that after this video you will stop doing this.

Examples

  • This is why nice guys finish last and I'm going to give you exactly why and hope that after this video you will stop doing this.

    Apollonia Ponti

  • I know it always looks like nice guys finish last, but that's why I'm making this video for you because it's not true.

  • I hate things like nice guys finish last where it's just not true.

  • I hate things like nice guys finish last where it's just not true.

  • You know, I hate things like nice guys finish last where it's just not true.

  • In a competitive business world, many believe that nice guys finish last because ruthless tactics often lead to greater success.

  • The saying that nice guys finish last makes some people hesitate to show kindness in tough situations.

Antonyms

ruthlessness
9 7.3

To show no pity or kindness to reach a goal

Surface Forms

nice guys finish last main

Morphology

nice + guy + finish + last

The phrase is compositionally clear: 'nice guys' = kind people and 'finish last' = end up in the final/losing position, so the overall meaning that kind people are less likely to succeed in competitive situations can be directly inferred from the constituents. Although it's a colloquial proverb with pragmatic nuance, the constituent meanings and standard syntactic composition make the sense readily accessible to a B1 learner who knows the words.

Etymology

Nice guys finish last may come from sports, where a nice player does not push hard or play rough and so can finish last in a race or game. So the phrase now means that people who are kind are sometimes less likely 'to succeed' than those who are tougher.