last word

noun

"last-word" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“last word” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The finest, highest, or ultimate representative of some class of objects.

Corpus desk

Index EN-last-word · last word · English

last word · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for last word
PropertyValue
Headwordlast word
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “last word” in English

last wordsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

last word is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

last word doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is last word, spelled L-A-S-T- -W-O-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    The finest, highest, or ultimate representative of some class of objects.
  2. 2
    A concluding remark; final advice, instructions, or observation.
  3. 3
    The final statement uttered by a person before death.
  4. 4
    A final decision or remark, or the right to make one.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how last word appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Little Joe's mother's cake was the last word in cakes; [...]
  2. Michaelis was the last word in what was caddish and bounderish.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "last word"?
"last word" is spelled L-A-S-T- -W-O-R-D.
What does "last word" mean?
As a noun, "last word" means: The finest, highest, or ultimate representative of some class of objects.
What language does "last word" come from?
"last word" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list