swan song

See more synonyms for swan song on Thesaurus.com

noun

the last act or manifestation of someone or something; farewell appearance: This building turned out to be the swan song of Victorian architecture.

Origin of swan song

First recorded in 1825–35; so called from the belief that the dying swan sings

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for swan song

farewell, windup, adieu, climax, conclusion, culmination, epilogue, goodbye, closer, coda, envoi, finis, peroration

Examples from the Web for swan song

Contemporary Examples of swan song

At an age when most actresses are settling into occasional cameos and swan-song performances, Leachman is only accelerating.
America's Dirtiest Dancer
Sona Charaipotra
March 30, 2009

Historical Examples of swan song

Many of the hymns in his Swan-Song are said to have been composed and sung in that way.
Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark
Jens Christian Aaberg
What a prophecy of Vittoria and Waterloo there is in these words—the swan-song of Pitt.
William Pitt and the Great War
John Holland Rose
And I suppose, our swan-song will be played on silver flutes!
In Her Own Right
John Reed Scott
The first line of Gilbert's swan-song—the only song of his that is remembered.
A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2
George Saintsbury
That was my cradle-song; and this is my swan-song, I suppose.
Mark Twain's Speeches
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

British Dictionary definitions for swan song

swan song

noun

the last act, appearance, publication, or utterance of a person before retirement or death
the song that a dying swan is said to sing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with swan song

swan song

A final accomplishment or performance, one's last work. For example, I'm resigning tomorrow; this project was my swan song. This term alludes to the old belief that swans normally are mute but burst into beautiful song moments before they die. Although the idea is much older, the term was first recorded in English only in 1890.