in the last analysis


in the last analysis

When everything has been considered; when all the facts are known or the truth has come to light. In the last analysis, it is the lowest earners in society who have been hit worst by this economic downturn. Rebarbative though he may be, in the last analysis, his dismissal comes down to his incompetency at the job.See also: analysis, last

in the ˌlast/ˌfinal aˈnalysis

used to say what is most important after everything has been discussed or considered: In the final analysis, humour is a matter of individual interpretation.See also: analysis, final, last

in the last analysis

In the end, after everything has been considered. This phrase, also put as in the final analysis, apparently is a translation of the French en dernier analyse. It was used by Edgar Allan Poe (Chambers’s Journal, 1844): “Now this mode of reasoning . . . what in the last analysis is it?”See also: analysis, last