too little, too late

1. Inadequate as a remedy and not in time to be effective, as in The effort to divert the stream into a corn field was too little too late—the houses were already flooded. This term originated in the military, where it was applied to reinforcements that were insufficient and arrived too late to be of help. [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

It concluded that the response of all four governments in the UK to the virus "repeatedly amounted to a case of 'too little, too late'".

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Inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett's report said the response of governments in all four UK nations repeatedly amounted to a case of "too little, too late".

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Chairwoman of the inquiry, former judge Baroness Hallett, said the UK's response could be summarised as "too little, too late".

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And it was too little, too late: At around 9:00, the water in the reactor sank below the tops of the fuel rods.

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The Savannah Bananas, a popular Harlem Globetrotters-like baseball team, have released videos set to secular pop hits like Rihanna’s “Breakin’ Dishes” and Jojo’s “Too Little Too Late”; in May, Frank posted a clip of the squad doing the “Your Way’s Better” moves.

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Related Words

• insufficient 
• mere 
• minimum 
• miserable 
• paltry 
• puny 
• scant 
• scanty 
• skimpy 
• sparse 
• tenuous