Finally

//ˈfaɪ.nl̩.i// adv

adv ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    At the end or conclusion; ultimately. not-comparable

    "The contest was long, but the Romans finally conquered."

  2. 2
    At bottom; ultimately; when all is considered. not-comparable

    "In a world in which "like singing,/ the next day's shriek for ease rises," in a world whose "survivors" are "capable of any cry, never done/ clasping in the city's shaken places," it is perhaps not surprising to find a dehumanizing but finally protective system of alienation imposing itself."

  3. 3
    To finish (with); lastly (in the present). not-comparable, sequence

    "Finally, I washed my dog."

  4. 4
    Definitively, comprehensively. not-comparable

    "The question of his long-term success has now been finally settled."

Adverb
  1. 1
    as the end result of a succession or process wordnet
  2. 2
    after an unspecified period of time or an especially long delay wordnet
  3. 3
    the item at the end wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
eventuallyat lastat lengthat long lastin conclusionat length

Example

More examples

"With the heirless king going crazy and royal family poisoned, the general of the army finally had his chance to usurp the throne."

Etymology

From Middle English finally, fynaly, fynally, fynaliche, fynalliche, equivalent to final + -ly.

Related phrases

and finally

More for "finally"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.