conclusion
Americannoun
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conclusions
plural
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the end or close; final part.
- Synonyms:
- finale, completion, termination, ending
- Antonyms:
- beginning
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the last main division of a discourse, usually containing a summing up of the points and a statement of opinion or decisions reached.
- Synonyms:
- summation
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a result, issue, or outcome; settlement or arrangement.
The restitution payment was one of the conclusions of the negotiations.
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final decision.
The judge has reached his conclusion.
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a reasoned deduction or inference.
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Logic. a proposition concluded or inferred from the premises of an argument.
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Law.
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the effect of an act by which the person performing the act is bound not to do anything inconsistent therewith; an estoppel.
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the end of a pleading or conveyance.
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Grammar. apodosis.
idioms
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in conclusion, finally.
In conclusion, I would like to thank you for your attention.
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try conclusions with, to engage oneself in a struggle for victory or mastery over, as a person or an impediment.
noun
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end or termination
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the last main division of a speech, lecture, essay, etc
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the outcome or result of an act, process, event, etc (esp in the phrase a foregone conclusion )
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a final decision or judgment; resolution (esp in the phrase come to a conclusion )
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logic
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a statement that purports to follow from another or others (the premises ) by means of an argument
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a statement that does validly follow from given premises
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law
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an admission or statement binding on the party making it; estoppel
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the close of a pleading or of a conveyance
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lastly; to sum up
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to come to a conclusion prematurely, without sufficient thought or on incomplete evidence
Usage
What is a conclusion? The conclusion is the final section of an essay. It summarizes the points made in the essay and restates the thesis statement in different words. Students are usually taught to write an essay in three parts, with the first part being the introduction, followed by the body and ending with a conclusion. While the introduction is often considered the most important part of an essay, the conclusion is often the trickiest part to write. The goal of the conclusion is to summarize all of the major points of the essay without repeating them word for word. Articles, opinion pieces, blog posts, research papers, and other types of writing also include conclusions to tie all the points together and emphasize their importance.
Synonym Usage
See end 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of conclusion
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Latin conclūsiōn-, stem of conclūsiō “a closing,” equivalent to conclūs(us) “closed” (past participle of conclūdere conclude ) + -iō -ion
Explanation
A conclusion is the last part of something, its end or result. When you write a paper, you always end by summing up your arguments and drawing a conclusion about what you've been writing about. The phrase in conclusion means "finally, to sum up," and is used to introduce some final comments at the end of a speech or piece of writing. The phrase jump to conclusions means "to come to a judgment without enough evidence." A foregone conclusion is an outcome that seems certain.
Vocabulary lists containing conclusion
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Argumentative Writing
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
All-rounder Stokes was restored to the team for the deciding third Test, during which he made a stunning announcement to retire from international cricket at the conclusion of the match.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
These realities don’t map to every experience yet following the NPC slander to its logical conclusion can be dangerous: declaring that a person’s alleged lack of inner thinking is justification for dismissing their humanity.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
The standard comeback to this conclusion is that we don’t have to pick a mutual fund at random, but can instead pick those that have the best past performance.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
Local investigators of the crashes haven’t reached the same conclusion as American officials or released their final investigative findings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
I begged Wemmick, in conclusion, to understand that my help must always be rendered without Herbert’s knowledge or suspicion, and that there was no one else in the world with whom I could advise.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
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The contrasting results could help explain why earlier studies examining the brains of people with depression have sometimes reached conflicting conclusions.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026
Its 600-plus pages, external contain a host of conclusions and recommendations.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Webull disputed a congressional committee’s findings about its ties to China, saying the report contained inaccuracies and unsupported conclusions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
OpenAI said the report’s conclusions are based on flawed testing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Could that explain why sometimes otherwise normal people come to conclusions that are completely and catastrophically wrong?
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.