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last-minute

last-minute

103 3.7
Happening just before a deadline or event
  • adjective
  • /ˈlæstˌmɪnɪt/
translation icon : de última hora
  • The Governor has a commission to consider last-minute appeals for clemency.
  • last-minute changes
  • last-minute plans
  • make last-minute changes

It was so last minute, so spontaneous.

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Examples

  • Sorry it was so last-minute, though.

  • But I'm really bad at gift giving so I wait till the last minute and then end up giving weird gifts.

  • So now, finally, in the last minute, we'll try to actually show what we want to show.

  • "We're all used to things with the federal government being changed at the last minute," he says.

    Academic text (2016)
  • We doing some last-minute Christmas shopping?

  • The greater the need for speed, the less room there is for error or last-minute changes.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Excuse me, sir, it seems we have a last-minute cancellation.

  • Marta was upset by what she saw as a last-minute request.

    Academic text (2002)
  • The room is brightly lit for TV, and the crew is making last-minute adjustments.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • We decided to make some last-minute changes to the presentation before the meeting started.

Antonyms

1.0

Before the usual or expected time

111 3.0

Happening at the right time to be useful

How Last-Minute

last-minute
103 3.7
on time
321 1.0
early
1.0

Surface Forms

last-minute positive
last-minuter comparative
last-minutest superlative

Morphology

last-minute = last + minute (transparent) = last + minute

The compound directly conveys the notion 'at the final minute' and is a straightforward adjective formed from the common phrase 'the last minute'.

Etymology

Last-minute combines last ('final') and minute ('a very short time' or '60 seconds'), so it gives the image of something done in the final tiny moment. That's why a last-minute decision or change happens just before a deadline.