LAST WORD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does last word mean? 

• LAST WORD (noun)
  The noun LAST WORD has 3 senses:

1. the final statement in a verbal argument

2. an authoritative statement

3. elegance by virtue of being fashionable

  Familiarity information: LAST WORD used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LAST WORD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The final statement in a verbal argument

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

she always gets the last word

Hypernyms ("last word" is a kind of...):

argument; statement (a fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An authoritative statement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

my doctor has the last word on the medicines I take

Hypernyms ("last word" is a kind of...):

authority (an authoritative written work)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Elegance by virtue of being fashionable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

chic; chichi; chicness; last word; modishness; smartness; stylishness; swank

Hypernyms ("last word" is a kind of...):

elegance (a refined quality of gracefulness and good taste)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "last word"):

dapperness; jauntiness; nattiness; rakishness (stylishness as evidenced by a smart appearance)

 Context examples 

His last word, in striking contrast with the smoothness of his previous utterance, snapped like the lash of a whip.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Take this now, ye men, for my last word.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

One last word—if you have been out of work a long time and you receive a job offer, take it and run with it.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

“Every last word, by thunder!” answered John.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Jo paused a little over the last word, but Laurie uttered it with a rapturous expression.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

And now a last word, dearest and best of friends!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I dreaded being discovered and sent back; for I must see Helen,—I must embrace her before she died,—I must give her one last kiss, exchange with her one last word.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

This account I am transmitting down the river by canoe, and it may be our last word to those who are interested in our fate.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With a last word of caution that he should say nothing as to our researches, we turned our faces westward once more.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Hum!” said my uncle, drily, and it was the last word that he addressed to me that night.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)