Word.ws English Dictionary

get the last laugh

get the last laugh is the alternative form of have the last laugh.

Meaning of have the last laugh

Verb

have the last laugh (third-person singular simple present has the last laugh, present participle having the last laugh, simple past and past participle had the last laugh)

  1. (idiomatic) To be vindicated; to triumph despite predicted failure; to find success after defeat or setback.
    • The author had the last laugh over the publishers who had rejected her now best-selling book.

Forms of get the last laugh

third-person singular presentgets the last laugh
present participlegetting the last laugh
pastgot the last laugh
past participle UKgot the last laugh
past participle USgotten the last laugh

Questions about get the last laugh

What is get the last laugh the alternative form of?
Get the last laugh is the alternative form of have the last laugh.

Words near get the last laugh in the dictionary

  1. get the goods on
  2. get the hang of
  3. get the hint
  4. get the idea
  5. get the job done
  6. get the last laugh
  7. get the lead out
  8. get the meaning
  9. get the memo
  10. get the nod
  11. get the noggin joggin'

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: get the last laugh (page history and authors); have the last laugh (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: “get the last laugh.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/get_the_last_laugh. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.