last minute

noun

Definition of last minutenext
as in crisis
the last possible time when something can be done You shouldn't wait until the last minute before planning your retirement. They were making changes to the show right up to the last minute.

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for last minute
  1. crisis
  2. emergency
  3. extremity
  4. possibility
  5. climax
  6. eleventh hour
  7. milestone
  8. zero hour
Noun
  • Rolón has ordered three criminal investigations into the Ueno Bank crisis, including claims involving Peña and other current and former government officials, the prosecutor's office said Thursday.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Paraguayan President Santiago Peña resigned from office this Thursday after Ueno Bank was shut down in the middle of the night due to a solvency crisis, leaving millions of customers unable to access their money and triggering a scandal.
    — Gonzalo Zegarra, CNN Money, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of crisis
Noun
  • Rescue operations were complicated, with police firing tear gas at people who had begun looting neighboring shops, as officers sought to clear the area and provide access to emergency response teams.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Around 200 firefighters and emergency personnel ⁠in the area around Berchtesgaden in ​the southern region of Bavaria were battling ​the flames after the building, known as the Kehlsteinhaus, caught fire on Friday, police said.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of emergency
Noun
  • Neither of the first two updates relieved concerns about whether Campbell had movement in his extremities, either.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The sit-to-stand exercise is also widely regarded as a useful indicator of lower-extremity strength and fall risk in older adults.
    — Kristen Gasnick, Verywell Health, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of extremity
Noun
  • Kotlikoff said the university needed to determine whether fraternities could operate safely and left open the possibility of sweeping restrictions on Greek life.
    — Leah Willingham, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The public stance remains, as the statement Friday reads, that Hammond remains the site where due diligence is being finalized and is very much a possibility.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of possibility
Noun
  • The scene comes out of nowhere, as the family are watching The Muppet Show, and climaxes with David having his throat slit.
    — Vulture Editors, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2026
  • As Melanie, Mitch, and his family try to stay safe inside his family home, the film comes to its truly unsettling climax.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of climax
Noun
  • Hong ultimately lost the primary election to Crowley by less than a percentage point following Barnes’s withdrawal from the race at the eleventh hour.
    — Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 22 Oct. 2026
  • When Weber refused — saying the DOJ had refused to share its methodology and waited until the eleventh hour to act — the DOJ sued.
    — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of eleventh hour
Noun
  • Its next major milestone involves a system-level Critical Design Review.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Both happened on Tuesday night—two significant milestones amid a night of major triumphs, firsts, and history-making moments.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of milestone
Noun
  • Nevertheless, this is an improvement on the zero hours that (many) men were doing 50 years ago.
    — Meg Walters, Glamour, 9 Nov. 2025
  • The King video marked the zero hour for new forms of activism using cameras.
    — Will Potter July 7, Literary Hub, 7 July 2025
Definition of zero hour
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

lastly
last minute
last minutes
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Last minute.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/last%20minute. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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