final girl

noun

plural final girls

: the protagonist of a slasher horror movie or novel who is typically a young woman, who is the last of the serial killer's intended victims to survive or remain, and who ultimately confronts the killer

The "final girl" is a trope familiar to film scholars and horror-movie fans. She's the young woman who makes it out of the slasher flick alive, the one who lives to tell the tale.

—Kirkus Reviews

Examples of final girl in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At its core, the film is a slasher movie, and the cop (Georgina Campbell) is the final girl. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2026

The seventh film pivoted to recenter the franchise’s original final girl, Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott. — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Sep. 2026

Our protagonist is Sabrina Alvarez, a young actor cast as Quinn Maybrook, the final girl from the first three novels. — Adam Cesare, PEOPLE, 18 Aug. 2026

The sequel Kris falls asleep to ends with a bloodied final girl refusing a cop’s reassurance that the killer is gone. — Jp Mangalindan, Time, 10 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1987, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for final girl

• burl
• churl
• earl
• hurl
• merl
• merle
• perle
• swirl
• twirl
• whirl
• whorl
• cowgirl