famous last word
famous last word is the singular of famous last words.
Meaning of famous last words
Noun
famous last words pl (normally plural, singular famous last word)
- A notable final utterance before death, especially one made by a celebrity or historical figure.
- Lawrence died defending his vessel and his famous last words, "Don't give up the ship," have been familiar to every schoolboy.1908, "“Don't Give Up The Ship.”," New York Times, 5 Jan. (retrieved 2 Oct 2010)
- A statement which is overly optimistic, results from overconfidence, or lacks realistic foresight.
- Says one Sperry product executive: "As a manager, there is almost nothing you can do to get fired here." Considering the new circumstances, those could be famous last words.1986 June 9, Janice Castro et al., “The Price Was Finally Right”, in Time
Forms of famous last word
| plural | famous last words |
|---|
Questions about famous last word
- What is famous last word the singular of?
- Famous last word is the singular of famous last words.
Words near famous last word in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: famous last word (page history and authors); famous last words (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “famous last word.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/famous_last_word. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.