final

1 of 2

adjective

fi·​nal ˈfī-nᵊl 

1

a

: not to be altered or undone

all sales are final

b

: of or relating to a concluding court action or proceeding

final decree

2

: coming at the end : being the last in a series, process, or progress

the final chapter

final exams

3

: of or relating to the ultimate purpose or result of a process

our final goal

the final product

final

2 of 2

noun

: something that is final: such as

a

: a deciding match, game, heat, or trial

—usually used in plural

b

: the last examination in a course

—often used in plural

Synonyms

Adjective

• bottommost
• closing
• concluding
• hindmost
• lag
• last
• latest
• latter
• rearmost
• terminal
• terminating
• ultimate

Choose the Right Synonym for final

last, final, terminal, ultimate mean following all others (as in time, order, or importance).

last applies to something that comes at the end of a series but does not always imply that the series is completed or stopped.

last page of a book

last news we had of him

final applies to that which definitely closes a series, process, or progress.

final day of school

terminal may indicate a limit of extension, growth, or development.

terminal phase of a disease

ultimate implies the last degree or stage of a long process beyond which further progress or change is impossible.

the ultimate collapse of the system

Examples of final in a Sentence

Adjective

the final act of the play

They won their final four games.

in the final minutes of the game

Our last stop was Bangkok, but our final destination is Tokyo.

The plans are undergoing final review.

What was the final score?

The final product was not what we had expected.

Noun

He failed his history finals.

He failed his history final.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

And one of those movies that will not be made — as the world learned April 17 — is The Movie Critic, which was billed as Tarantino’s 10th and final film. —Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Apr. 2024

Last summer, the Labor Department proposed lifting the salary threshold for exempt employees to about $55,000 but updated the benchmark in the final rule after receiving more than 33,000 public comments. —Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 23 Apr. 2024

The agency’s vote to approve the issuance of the final rule was 3-2. —Todd Spangler, Variety, 23 Apr. 2024

The Biden administration is asking the court to remand the case for further evidentiary findings before a final ruling is made. —Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 22 Apr. 2024

The final death toll from the heat wave is still being calculated, but is almost certainly in the tens of thousands, researchers say. —Rebecca Hersher, NPR, 22 Apr. 2024

The sculptor gave a peek at his creation last year and added two more corgis to the base of the statue for the final product. —Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 22 Apr. 2024

Given Santa Barbara’s close geographical proximity to Los Angeles and calendar proximity to the final round of Oscars voting (which in 2025 will run from Feb. 11-18), the fest annually draws some of the biggest names in the Oscar race. —Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Apr. 2024

Its final lot was able to include items donated from Joaquin Phoenix, Lynne Ramsay and Emma Corrin. —Alex Ritman, Variety, 11 Apr. 2024

Noun

The Minneapolis Lakers become the first team to win back-to-back NBA championships by defeating the Syracuse Nationals 110-95 in Game 6 of the finals. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2024

After the Sockers won Game 2 of the Western Division finals by the score of 5-4 on a triple overtime goal scored by Gabriel Costa, Chihuahua took the series with a 2-1 win in the ensuing 15-minute Knockout Game to advance to the Ron Newman Cup Finals. —Ivan Carter, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2024

As Nuggets coach Michael Malone sees it, there isn’t a significant difference between last year’s Lakers team that made it to the conference finals and this year’s version. —Khobi Price, Orange County Register, 21 Apr. 2024

The Heat won two (2020 and 2023) of those three conference finals over the Celtics. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 20 Apr. 2024

Since then, all discus throw finals at the Olympics have featured at least one Lithuanian. —Martynas Ruseckas, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024

For the first time, the women's NCAA basketball finals got more viewers than the men's, 18.9 million compared to 14.8 million. —Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 10 Apr. 2024

The following season, fellow Grapevine-Colleyville ISD school Grapevine defeated them in the regional finals. —Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Apr. 2024

On Sunday, March 17, the star and her boyfriend actor Tom Holland were spotted at the finals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. —Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, "pertaining to an end or conclusion, effecting a close, ultimate, conclusive," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin fīnālis "last, at the end, ultimate," going back to Latin, "of boundaries," from fīnis "boundary, limit, terminal point, ending" (of uncertain origin) + -ālis -al entry 1

Note: According to an older hypothesis, fīnis goes back to *fig-sn-is, a derivative from the base of fīgere "to drive in, insert, fasten" (see fix entry 1), assuming that the word originally referred to some sort of boundary marker fixed to a tree or driven into the ground. A more recent suggestion sees fīnis going back to *bhiH-n-i, a derivative of an Indo-European verbal base *b^hei̯H- "strike, break," seen also in an o-grade derivative *b^hoi̯H-n-o-, whence Germanic *baina- "bone" and "straight" (in Old Norse beinn "straight"); (see bone entry 1); in this case fīnis would have referred originally to an upright branch or stake used to mark boundaries. Both hypotheses are in the end speculative, as the semantic prehistory of fīnis in Latin is unknown.

Noun

derivative of final entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1609, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing final

• final boss
• final curtain
• final draft
• final/last resting place
• final score
• final solution
• in the final/last analysis
• make the final/supreme/ultimate sacrifice
• the final/last straw
• the last/final word

Kids Definition

final

1 of 2 adjective

fi·​nal ˈfīn-ᵊl 

1

: not to be changed or undone

my final offer

2

: relating to or occurring at the end or conclusion : ultimate

the final act of the play

finally

ˈfīn-ᵊl-ē 

-lē

adverb

final

2 of 2 noun

: something final: as

a

: the last match or game of a tournament

—usually used in plural

b

: the last examination in a course

—often used in plural

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English final "perfect, final, not to be changed," from early French final (same meaning), from Latin finalis "final, relating to the end" — related to define, finish, infinity

Legal Definition

final

adjective

fi·​nal

1

: ending a court action or proceeding leaving nothing further to be determined by the court or to be done except execution of the judgment but not precluding appeal

—used of an order, decision, judgment, decree, determination, or sentence see also finality, final judgment rule compare interlocutory

2

: being a decision that precludes the right to appeal or to continue a case in any other court upon the merits: as

a

: being a decision for which availability of appeal has been exhausted and concerning which a writ of certiorari has been denied or the time to petition for certiorari has expired

b

: being a decision of the Supreme Court of the U.S. that terminates the litigation between parties on the merits and leaves nothing for the lower court to do in case of an affirmance except to execute the judgment

3

: being the last in a series, process, or progress

a final payment