dead last
9
7.2
- idiom
- Informal
- In the final race of the season, our team finished dead last, but we were still proud of our efforts.
- ranked dead last
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Watch on YouTubeIf all my crew beat me and I came in dead last, that is not a bad thing.
- If all my crew beat me and I came in dead last, that is not a bad thing.
- And if pain were to be on the pull, I bet pain would be dead last.
- Why would God tell someone to run for president and then let them come in dead last?
- And then in dead last is the iPhone SE, the only phone in this test that does not have night mode.
- The kind of progressive wish list stuff is is in dead last.
Examples
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And Yellow is dead last.
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Currently, the Nuggets are dead last in free throw shooting percentage at 64.7 percent.
Blog text (12) -
If all my crew beat me and I came in dead last, that is not a bad thing.
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What I want is for us to finish dead last.
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And Yellow is dead last!
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Coming in dead last couldn't have been easy.
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Out of 33 countries, the USA is dead last in terms of access to healthcare.
Blog text (12) -
Their fears couldn't stop her, even though the first time out, she finished dead last.
Fiction book (1994) -
Among industrialized countries, we rank dead last in such contributions relative to the size of our economy.
Academic text (1998) -
The Mets were ranked dead last in spending money wisely.
Blog text (33)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
At the end and cannot be changed
30
3.3
In the lowest position in a competition or list
Antonyms
How High
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'dead' here functions as an intensifier meaning 'completely' or 'exactly' and 'last' means 'the final position', so 'dead last' = 'completely/absolutely last'. This pattern is productive in English (compare 'dead center') and parallels intensifier+final constructions in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase dead last starts with dead used as a strong word for 'completely' and last meaning the final place. Imagine a race where someone is not just last but completely at the back — that's why it means 'in the very last position'.