the final/last straw

noun

: the last in a series of bad things that happen to make someone very upset, angry, etc.

It had been a difficult week, so when the car broke down, it was the last straw.

Examples of the final/last straw in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But amid waves of inflation, the unpopular and wide-ranging plan to hike taxes on items such as egg imports and specialist hospital equipment aimed at closing the country’s huge deficit was the final straw for many younger and poorer Kenyans. —

David Hodari, NBC News, 26 June 2024 Might someone have foreseen that this could blow up and become the last straw for the job tenure of Posley and probably others? —

Alan J. Borsuk, Journal Sentinel, 7 June 2024 For Yerevan, Azerbaijan’s seizure of the territory last fall, with Russian acquiescence, became the last straw. —

Thomas De Waal, Foreign Affairs, 3 June 2024 According to the 52-year-old Republican — who Donald Trump is considering making his running mate in November’s election — Cricket was aggressive and untrainable and the chicken-killing incident was the final straw. —

Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for the final/last straw

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the final/last straw.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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“The final/last straw.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20final%2Flast%20straw. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.

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