last
/læst/adjective, determiner, adverb, verb, noun
last is spelled L-A-S-T. The wrong spelling people search most is lastr: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 303 of all searches for the word. Last is an adjective meaning “Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind”.
How many letters and syllables are in last?
| Letters | 4: L-A-S-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 724 times per million words; the 144th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, lastr, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell last?
Last is spelled L-A-S-T. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 307 of the searches for last in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is last?
Last appears 724 times per million words in written English, the 144th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce last?
- UK /lɑːst/
- US /læst/
- Canada /last/
Last has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-last.wav, En-us-last.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with last
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with last?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as last from its last stressed vowel (/æst/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: salt, slat, lats.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of last
- lasts present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- lasting participle, present
- lasted participle, past
- lasten plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does last mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Final, ultimate, coming after all others of its kind.
Will try to fix it by myself for now: as a last resort, we can always take it to a grease monkey.
- 2
Most recent, latest, last so far.
The last time I saw him, he was married.
- 3
Farthest of all from a given quality, character, or condition; most unlikely, or least preferable.
He is the last person to be accused of theft.
- 4
Being the only one remaining of its class.
Japan is the last empire.
- 5
Supreme; highest in degree; utmost.
- 6
Lowest in rank or degree.
Three contestants will win awards, but the last prize is just a book voucher.
determiner
- 1
The (one) immediately before the present.
We went there last year.
- 2
Closest in the past, or closest but one if the closest was very recent; of days, sometimes thought to specifically refer to the instance closest to seven days (one week) ago, or the most recent instance before seven days (one week) ago.
It's Wednesday, and the party was last Tuesday; that is, not yesterday, but eight days ago.
adverb
- 1
Most recently.
When we last met, he was based in Toronto.
- 2
after everything else; finally
As I arrived last of all, I'll go last to add the butter last.
verb
- 1
To endure, continue over time.
Summer seems to last longer each year.
- 2
To hold out, continue undefeated or entire.
I don't know how much longer we can last without reinforcements.
- 3
slangTo purposefully refrain from orgasm
- 4
obsoleteTo perform, carry out.
- 5
To shape (an item of footwear such as a boot or shoe) during its manufacture or repair while it is placed on a last (noun etymology 3, noun sense 1).
to last a boot
noun
- 1
A tool in the form of a foot on which an item of footwear (such as a boot or shoe) is placed for shaping while it is being manufactured or repaired.
- 2
obsoleteA burden; load; a cargo; freight.
- 3
obsoleteA measure of weight or quantity, varying in designation depending on the goods concerned.
- 4
obsoleteAn old English (and Dutch) measure of the carrying capacity of a ship, equal to two tons.
- 5
A load of some commodity with reference to its weight and commercial value.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Last in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dernier , en dernier, finalement , durer , tenir , forme |
| German | letzte , zuletzt , dauern, anhalten, währen , durchführen |
| Portuguese | último , por último , durar , aguentar, resistir , passado |
| Spanish | último, postrero, postrer, postrimero, postrimer, postremo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does last come from?
From Middle English laste, latst, syncopated variant of latest, both ultimately from Old English latost. Doublet of latest.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).