Word.ws English Dictionary

have the last laugh

have the last laugh verb: to be vindicated; to triumph despite predicted failure; to find success after defeat or setback.

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 have the last laugh

third-person singular presenthas the last laugh
present participlehaving the last laugh
past participlehad the last laugh
pasthad the last laugh
alternative formget the last laugh

Questions about have the last laugh

What does have the last laugh mean?
Have the last laugh means to be vindicated; to triumph despite predicted failure; to find success after defeat or setback.
What part of speech is have the last laugh?
Have the last laugh is a verb.
What is the past tense of have the last laugh?
The past tense of have the last laugh is had the last laugh.

Words near have the last laugh in the dictionary

  1. have the foggiest
  2. have the goods on
  3. have the hang of
  4. have the heart
  5. have the hots for
  6. have the last laugh
  7. have the laugh on one's side
  8. have the law of
  9. have the legs of someone
  10. have the painters in
  11. have the pas of someone

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-have the last laugh.ogg.

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