famous last words

1. A phrase used to express disbelief, rejection, or self-deprecation. For example, They said we'd get an extra bonus at Christmas—famous last words! or This book is bound to make the best-seller list—famous last words! This expression alludes to grandiose statements about human affairs that prove to be untrue, such as “This is the war to end all wars,” or “We must make the world safe for democracy.” [Late 1930s]

Example Sentences

Despite the band’s success, Hodgson quit Supertramp after 1982’s “Famous Last Words” album.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Since this scene plays more than halfway through the second season in an episode called “Last Drink,” we recognize this as the bleakest version of “famous last words.”

Read more on Salon

Then he added: "Famous last words."

Read more on BBC

Thirty-odd millennia into the future, those are still famous last words.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But he went on: “Famous last words of Ned Rorem, crushed by a truck, gnawed by the pox, stung by wasps, in dire pain: ‘How do I look?’”

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• farewell