last-minute
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Just before a deadline; at the last moment: Used to describe something that is done, made, or happens at the very end of the available time, often in a rushed or urgent manner.
Usage Examples
- Adjective:
- We made some last-minute changes to the presentation.
- He always does last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve.
- The trip was canceled due to a last-minute complication.
Advanced Usage
- "last-minute decision": A choice or resolution made at the final possible moment.
- Their wedding was a last-minute decision; they planned it in just two weeks.
- "last-minute rush": A period of frantic activity immediately before a deadline.
- The airport was crowded with travelers in the usual last-minute rush before the holiday.
Variants and Related Words
- Last-ditch (adj): A final, desperate attempt made when all else has failed.
- They made a last-ditch effort to save the project.
- Eleventh-hour (adj): Occurring or done at the latest possible time before it is too late (synonymous with "last-minute").
- An eleventh-hour agreement prevented the strike.
Synonyms
- Hasty: Done with excessive speed or urgency.
- Belated: Coming or happening later than should have been the case.
Related Phrases
- At the last minute: As an adverbial phrase with the same core meaning as the adjective.
- The deal was finalized at the last minute.
- Down to the wire: An idiom meaning until the last possible moment.
- The negotiations went down to the wire.
Related Idioms
- In the nick of time: Just in time; at the last possible moment before it is too late.
- The ambulance arrived in the nick of time.
Adjective
- just before a deadline; at the last minute
- last-minute arrangements