swan song

See synonyms for swan song on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. 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

1
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. 2024

How to use swan song in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for swan song

swan song

noun
  1. the last act, appearance, publication, or utterance of a person before retirement or death

  2. 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

Other 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.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.